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203Z ( 2 



MATERIA MEDICA 



FOR 



THE USE OF STUDENTS 



BY 

JOHN B. BIDDLE, M.D., 

PROFESSOR OP MATERIA MEDICA AND GENERAL THERAPEUTICS IN THE JEFFERSON MEDICAL 

COLLEGE, MEMBER OF THE AMEBIC AN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, FELLOW OF 

THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, ETC., ETC. 



FIFTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED, 
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 






f S . •' v • 

'*■■■-■ 



PHILADELPHIA: 

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON. 

1873. 



13' 



■*7 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, 
BY LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



HENRY B. ASHMEAD, PRINTER. 



PREFACE 

TO THE FIFTH EDITION 



Although the fourth edition of the Materia Medica has 
been for some time exhausted, the publication of a fifth edition 
was delayed, in anticipation of the issue of the new edition of 
the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. This having been put forth in 
January, 1873, the fifth edition of the Materia Medica, now 
published, has been made to conform with the altered nomen- 
clature, which includes most of the salts, and with the new 
formulae for officinal preparations, which are numerous and 
important. Many new articles have been introduced, and the 
work has been carefully revised, and, in many respects, re- 
modelled. 

The illustrations of the book comprise, as in previous edi- 
tions, representations of most of the important indigenous and 
naturalized plants, as well as diagrams of instruments em- 
ployed in the atomization of liquids. 

The author has aimed in this, as in previous editions, to pre- 
sent a succinct account of the articles of the Materia Medica, 
in general use in the United States, and discussed in the courses 
of lectures delivered upon the subject, to which he trusts the 
work will be found, as heretofore, to furnish a suitable text- 
book. He takes pleasure in renewing his dedication of it to 
the gentlemen in attendance upon the various medical schools 
of North America. 

Philadelphia, February, 1873. 



v. 



CONTENTS. 



Remedies — Definition of, 
Division of, 



17 

17 



PART I. 

MECHANICAL REMEDIES. 

General Bloodletting, 17 

18 

. 19 

19 



Leeches and Cups, 
Setons and Issues, 
Bandages, Frictions, Acupuncture, 



PART II. 

IMPONDERABLE REMEDIES. 



Light, 



Heat, 
Cold, . 
Electricity, 



PART III. 



PHARMACOLOGICAL REMEDIES, OR MEDICINES. 



Medicines — Definition of, 

Modus Operandi of, . 

Circumstances which modify the Effects of, 

Forms in which they are used, 

Solids, 

Liquids, ....... 

Semi-solids, . . . . . . . 

Gases and Vapours, ..... 

Weights and Measures, ..... 

Effects of Age, Sex, Temperament, Idiosyncrasy, Habit, 
&c, upon, ....... 

Parts to which Medicines are applied, 

To the Skin, 

The Hypodermic method, .... 

To Mucous Membranes, .... 

Atomization, ...... 

To Serous Membranes, .... 

To Ulcers, Wounds, Abscesses, &c, . 
Classification of Medicines, .... 



20 
20 
21 
22 



23 

24 
26 
26 
27 
29 
33 
34 
35 

36 
37 
37 
38 
38 
39 
41 
42 
42 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Class I. — Neurotics, . 
Order I. Narcotics, 
Opium, 
Chloral, . 
Lactucarium, . 
Belladonna, 
Stramonium, 
Hyoscyamus, . 
Tabacum (Tobacco), 
Lobelia, . 
Conium, . 

Aconitum (Aconite), 
Cannabis Americana, 
Cannabis Indica, 
Humulus (Hops), 
Dulcamara (Bittersweet) 
Acidum Hydrocyanicum Dilutum (Diluted Hydrocyanic 

Acid), 
Potasii Cyanidum (Cyanide of Potassium), 
Oleum Amygdalae AmarEe (Oil of Bitter Almond) 
Camphora (Camphor), 
Physostigma (Calabar Bean), 
Cocculus (Cocculus Indicus), . 
Woorara, .... 

Order II. Ethereal Anaesthetics, 
^Ether (Ether), 
Chloroformum (Chloroform), 
Rhigolene, .... 
Bichloride of Methylene, 
Methylic Ether, 
Compounds of Amyl, 
Tetrachloride of Carbon, 
Tetrabromide of Carbon, 
Nitrous Oxide, 
Order III. Antispasmodics, 

Assafcetida (Assafetida), 

Galbanum, .... 

Ammoniacum (Ammoniac), 

Valeriana (Valerian), 

Ammonii Valerianas (Valerianate of Ammonium) 

Cypripedium, .... 

Scutellaria (Skullcap), 

Dracontium (Skunk-Cabbage), 

Thea(Tea), .... 

Caffea (Coffee), 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



Theobromo (Chocolate), 

Erythroxylon Coca (Coca), 

Guanara, .... 

Mate, 

Moschus (Musk), 

Castoreum (Castor), 

Oleum Succini (Oil of Amber), 

Oleum iEthereum (Ethereal Oil), 

Spiritus Athens Compositus (Compound 
Order IV. Tonics, 
Vegetable tonics, 
Simple Bitters, 

Quassia, 

Simaruba, 

Coptis (Goldthread), 

Gentiana (Gentian), 

Frasera (American Columbo), 

Sabbatia, 

Calumba (Columbo), 

Chiretta, 

Xanthorriza (Yellow-root), 
Aromatic Bitters, 

Serpentaria, 

Anthemis (Chamomile), 

Cotula (Mayweed), 

Matricaria (German Chamomile). 

Eupatorium (Thoroughwort), 

Absinthium (Wormwood), 

Magnolia, .... 

Liriodendron (Tulip-Tree Bark), 

Angustura, .... 

Cascarilla, .... 

Canella, .... 

Achillea (Yarrow), 
Astringent Bitters, .... 

Cinchona, .... 

Cornus Florida (Dogwood), 

Salix (Willow), 

Prunus Virginiana (Wild-Cherry), 

Nectandra, .... 

Geum Bivale (Water Avens), 

Spiraea Tomentosa (Hardhack), 

Prinos Verticillatus (Black Alder), 

Pepsine, .... 

Mineral Tonics, .... 



Spiri 



tof Etherl 



PAGE 

96 
96 
96 
96 
97 
98 
98 
99 
99 
100 
101 
101 
101 
102 
102 
103 
104 
105 
106 
107 
107 
107 
107 
109 
110 
110 
110 
111 
112 
112 
112 
113 
113 
114 
114 
114 
122 
123 
124 
125 
125 
125 
125 
125 
126 



X 



CONTENTS. 



Ferri Prasparata (Preparations of Iron) 7 
Cupri Praeparata (Preparations of Copper), 
Zinci Prseparata (Preparations of Zinc), 
Argenti Praeparata (Preparations of Silver), 
Bismuthi Subnitras (Subhitrate of Bismuth) 
Cadrnii Sulphas (Sulphate of Cadmium), 
Cerii Oxalas (Oxalate of Cerium), . 
Acida Mineralia (Mineral Acids), . 
Order V. Astringents, ..... 
Vegetable Astringents, .... 
Acidum Tannicum (Tannic Acid), . 
Acidum Gallicum (Gallic Acid), 
Galla (Nutgall), .... 
Catechu, ...... 

Kino, 

Krameria (Rhatany), 
Hsematoxylon (Logwood), 
Quercus Alba (White Oak), 
Quercus Tinctoria (Black Oak), 
Geranium, . . 

Uva Ursi, 

Chimaphila (Pipsissewa), 

Granati Fructus Cortex (Pomegranate Rind), 

Rosa Gallica (Red Rose), 

Rosa Centifolia (Pale Rose), . 

Diospyros (Persimmon), 

Tormentilla (Tormentil), 

Rubus (Blackberry Root), 

Heuchera (Alum-Root), 

Creasotum (Creasote), 

Acidum Carbolicum (Carbolic Acid), 

Sulpho-Carbolic Acid, . 

Sulpho-Carbolates, 
Mineral Astringents, .... 

Plumbi Praeparata (Preparations of Lead), 

Alumen (Alum), .... 

Aluminii Sulphas (Sulphate of Aluminium), 

Order VI. Stimulants, 

Diffusible Stimulants, . 

Alcohol, ..... 

Vinum (Wine), . . 

Spiritus Vini Gallici (Brandy,) 

Spiritus Frumenti (Whisky), 

Spiritus Geneva? (Gin), . 

Spiritus Myrciae (Spirit of Myrcia), 



PAGE 

126 

136 

137 

139 

141 

142 

142 

143 

147 

148 

148 

149 

149 

150 

151 

152 

153 

153 

153 

154 

156 

157 

158 

159 

159 

159 

159 

159 

160 

160 

161 

163 

163 

163 

163 

168 

169 

170 

170 

170 

172 

173 

173 

173 

170 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



Ammoniae Prgeparata (Preparations of Ammonia), 

Arnica, 

Phosphorus, 



), 



Phosphuret of Zinc, . 
Aromatics, 

Capsicum, 

Piper (Black Pepper), 

Cinnamomum (Cinnamon 

Mjristica (Nutmeg), 

Macis (Mace), . 

Caryophyllus (Cloves), 

Pimenta (Pimento), 

Oleum Cajuputi (Cajeput Oil), 

Oleum Terebinthinse (Oil of Turpentine) 

Zingiber (Ginger), . 

Cardamomum (Cardamom), 

Calamus (Sweet Flag), . 

Gaultheria, 

Aurantii Amari Cortex (Bitter Orange Peel), 

Aurantii Dulcis Cortex (Sweet Orange Peel), 

Those belonging to Nat. Ord. Lamiaceas, 

Those belonging to Nat. Ord. Apiaceee, 

Vanilla, . . 

Order VII. Sedatives, ....... 

Digitalis, . . . ... 

Veratrum Viride (American Hellebore), . 

Veratum Album (White Hellebore), 

Veratria, ........ 

Gelsemium (Yellow Jasmine), 

Antimonii Prseparata (Preparations of Antimony) 

Potassii Nitras (Nitrate of Potassium), . 

Sodii Nitras (Nitrate of Sodium), . 
Refrigerants, ........ 

Sodii Boras (Borate of Sodium), 

Potassii Citras (Citrate of Potassium), 

Liquor Ammonii Acetatis (Solution of Acetate of 
monium), ....... 

Spiritus iEtheris Nitrosi (Spirit of Nitrous Ether) 

Acida Vegetablia (Vegetable Acids), 
Order VIII. Spinants, 

Nux Vomica, ....... 

Strychnia, ....... 

Strychniae Sulphas (Sulphate of Strychnia), 

Ignatia, ........ 

Toxicodendron (Poison Oak), 



Am- 



173 
175 
176 
176 
177 
177 
178 
179 
180 
180 
181 
181 
182 
182 
183 
184 
184 
185 
186 
186 
187 
188 
189 
189 
190 
192 
193 
194 
195 
195 
200 
201 
201 
201 
202 

203 
203 
204 
205 
205 
207 
208 
208 
208 



Xll 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Ergota (Ergot), 209 

Gosspii Radicis Cortex (Bark of Cotton Root), . . 211 

Class II. — Eccritics, 211 

Order I. Emetics, 211 

Vegetable Emetics, 213 

Ipecacuanha, . . . . . . . . .213 

Sanguinaria (Bloodroot), . . . . . .214 

Euphorbia Corollata (Large Flowering Spurge), . . 216 

Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, (Ipecacuanha Spurge), . . 216 

Gillenia, 217 

Sinapis (Mustard, 2 IT 

Mineral Emetics, 218 

Order II. Cathartics 218 

Laxatives, . . . . . . . . . . .219 

Manna, 220 

Cassia Fistula (Purging Cassia), ..... 221 

Oleum Olivae (Olive Oil), 221 

Oleum Amygdalae Expressum (Expressed Oil of Almond), 221 

Oleum Ricini (Castor Oil), 221 

Sulphur, 223 

Saline Cathartics, 224 

Magnesia, 224 

Magnesii Carbonas (Carbonate of Magnesium), . .22 5 
Magnesii Sulphas (Sulphate of Magnesium), . . 225 
Liquor Magnesii Citratis (Solution of Citrate of Mag- 
nesium), ......... 226 

Sodii Sulphas (Sulphate of Sodium), . . . .226 

Manganesii Sulphas (Sulphate of Manganese), . . 227 

Sodii Phosphas (Phosphate of Sodium), . . . 227 

Potassii Sulphas (Sulphate of Potassium), . . . 228 

Potassii Bitartras (Bitartrate of Potassium), . . 228 

Potassii Tartras (Tartrate of Potassium), . . . 229 
Potassii et Sodii Tartras (Tartrate of Potassium and 

Sodium), 229 

Mild Acrid Cathartics, '.230 

Rheum (Rhubarb), 230 

Juglans (Butternut), 232 

Aloe (Aloes), 233 

Leptandra, 235 

Senna, .......... 235 

Cassia Marilandica (American Senna), .... 237 

Sambucus (Elder), 238 

Drastic Cathartics, 238 

Jalapa (Jalap), ........ 238 

Podophyllum (May Apple), 239 



CONTENTS. 


Xlll 




PAGE 


Scammonium (Scammony), 


. 241 


Helleborus (Black Hellebore), . 


. 241 


Colocynthis (Colocynth), 


. 242 


Gambogia (Gamboge), 


243 


Elaterium, .... 


243 


Oleum Tiglii (Croton Oil), 


244 


Mercurial Cathartics, .... 


. 245 


Enemata, ....... 


. 246 


Order III. Diaphoretics, .... 


247 


Alterative Diaphoretics, . 


. 248 


Sarsaparilla, .... 


. 248 


Aralia Nudicaulis (False Sarsaparil 


la), . . . .250 


Guaiaci Lignum et Resina (Guaiacui 


n "Wood and Guaiac), 250 


Mezereum (Mezereon), 


. 25£ 


Sassafras, .... 


. 252 


Stillingia, .... 


. 253 


Order IV. Diuretics, .... 


253 


Scilla (Squill), 


255 


Colchicum, .... 


256 


Erigeron (Fleabane), 


. 259 


Apocynum Cannabinum (Indian He 


tnp), . . . .260 


Taraxacum (Dandelion), . 


261 


Juniperus (Juniper), 


. 262 


Carota (Carrot Seed), 


. 262 


Cantbaris (Cantharides), 


. 263 


Hydrastis Canadensis (Yellow Root 


),.... 263 


Delphinium Consolida (Larkspur), 


. 264 


Sarothamnus Scoparius (Broom), 


264 


Petroselinum Sativum (Parsley), 


. 264 


Cochlearia Armoracia (Horse-Radis 


h), . . . . 264 


Order V. Blennorrhetics, 


.. 264 


Senega (Seneka), 


265 


Cimicifuga, .... 


267 


Allium (Garlic), 


268 


Scilla (Squill), 


269 


Terebinthina (Turpentine), 


269 


Oleum Terebinthina? (Oil of Turpen 


tine), . - . .271 


Pix Liquida (Tar), . 


272 


Resina (Resin), 


272 


Copaiba, ..... 


273 


Cubeba (Cubeb), 


274 


Matico, ..... 


276 


Pareira (Pareira Brava), . 


276 


Buchu, . . 


277 


Myrrh a (Myrrh), 


277 



XIV 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Benzoinum (Benzoin), ....... 278 

Acidum Benzoicum (Benzoic Acid), .... 279 

Ammonii Benzoas (Benzoate of Ammonium), . . . 280 

Sty rax (Storax), 280 

Balsamum Peruvianum (Balsam of Peru), . . . 280 

Balsamum Tolutanum (Balsam of Tolu), . . . 281 

Order VI. Emmenagogues, ........ 282 

Sabina (Savine), 283 

Ruta (Rue), 283 

Rubia (Madder), 284 

Class III. — Haematics, 284 

Order I. Haematinics, 284 

Order II. Alteratives, . . 284 

Hydrargyri Prseparata (Preparations of Mercury), . . 285 

Iodinium (Iodine), 300 

Potassii Iodidum (Iodide of Potassium), . . . . 303 

Ammonii lodidum (Iodide of Ammonium), . . . 304 

Sodii Iodidum (Iodide of Sodium), 305 

Iodoformum (Iodoform), ....... 305 

Brominium (Bromine), . . . . . . . 305 

Potassii Bromidum (Bromide of Potassium), . . . 306 

Ammonii Bromidum (Bromide of Ammonium), . . 307 

Bromide of Sodium, . . . . . . . . 307 

Bromide of Lithium, ....... 307 

Oleum Morrhuse (Cod-liver Oil), . . . • . .307 

Arsenici Prseparata (Preparations of Arsenic), . . 310 
Calcii Phosphas Prsecipitata (Precipitated Phosphate of 

Calcium), 316 

Calcii Hypophosphis (Hypophosphite of Calcium), . 316 

Potassii Hypophosphis (Hypophosphite of Potassium), . 317 

Sodii Hypophosphis (Hypophosphite of Sodium), . . 317 

Ammonii Chloridum (Chloride of Ammonium), . . 317 

Ammonii Phosphas (Phosphate of Ammonium), . . 318 

Potassii Chloras (Chlorate of Potassium), . . . 319 

Potassii Bichromas (Bichromate of Potassium), . . 320 

Potassii Permanganas (Permanganate of Potassium), . 320 

Aqua Chlorinii (Chlorine Water), 321 

Calx Chlorinata (Chlorinated Lime), . . . .322 

Liquor Sodse Chlorinatae (Solution of Chlorinated Soda), 322 

Peroxide of Hydrogen, ....... 322 

Order III. Antacids, 323 

Potassii Prseparata (Preparations of Potassium), . . 325 

Sodii Prseparata (Preparations of Sodium), . . . 327 

Litbii Prseparata (Preparations of Lithium), . . . 329 

Ammonii Proaparata (Preparations of Ammonium), . 330 



CONTENTS. XV 

PAGE 

Magnesii Prseparata (Preparations of Magnesium), . . 330 

Calcii Praeparata (Preparations of Calcium), . . . 330 

Class IV. — Topical Medicines, ........ 332 

Order I. Irritants, 332 

Rubefacients, 333 

Sinapis (Mustard), ........ 333 

Capsicum, ......... 335 

Oleum Terebinthinae (Oil of Turpentine), . . . 336 

Linimentum Ammoniae (Liniment of Ammonia), . . 336 

Pix Burgundica (Burgundy Pitch), .... 336 

Pix Canadensis (Canada Pitch), ..... 337 

Epispastics, .......... 338 

Cantharis (Cantharides), ...... 339 

Cantharis Vittata (Potato Flies) . 343 

Aqua Ammonias (Water of Ammonia), '. . . . 343 

Suppurants, 344 

Oleum Tiglii (Croton Oil), ...... 344 

Unguentum Antimonii (Antimonial Ointment), . . 344 

Escharoties, 344 

Argenti Nitras Fusa (Fused Nitrate of Silver), . . 345 

Potassa, 345 

Potassa cum Calce (Potassa with Lime), . . . 346 

Soda, . 346 

Acidum Chromicum (Chromic Acid), .... 347 
Acidum Arseniosum (Arsenious Acid), .... 347 
Zinci Chloridum (Chloride of Zinc), . . . .347 
Liquor Hydrargyri Nitratis (Solution of Nitrate of Mer- 
cury), 348 

Hydrargyri Chloridum Corrosivum (Corrosive Chloride of 

Mercury), 348 

Potasii Bichromas (Bichromate of Potassium), . . 348 

Acida Mineralia (Mineral Acids), ..... 348 

Order II. Demulcents, 349 

Aqua (Water), .350 

Acacia (Gum Arabic), . ' . . . . . . 351 

Tragacantha (Tragacanth), . . v . . . 353 

Linum (Flaxseed), ........ 354 

Ulmus (Slippery-Elm Bark), 354 

Sassafras Medulla (Sassafras Pith), .... 356 

Althsea (Marshmallow), . . . . . . . 356 

Sesamum (Benne), ........ 356 

Glycyrrhiza (Liquorice Root), ..... 357 

Extractum Glycyrrhizas (Liquorice), . 358 

Cetraria (Iceland Moss), 358 

Chondrus (Irish Moss), 359 



XVI 



CONTENTS. 



Maranta (Arrow-root), 

Canna, 

Tapioca, . 

Sago, 

Hordeum (Barley), . 

Avenge Farina (Oatmeal) 

Oryza (Rice), . 

Salep, 

Amylum (Starch), . 

Gelatina (Gelatin), . 

Ichthyocolla (Isinglass), 

Adeps (Lard), . 

Serum (Suet), . 

Cetaceum (Spermaceti), 

Cera (Wax), 

Oleum Theobromse (Oil of Theobroma), 

Glycerina (Glycerin), 

Pyroxylon, 

Collodium (Collodion), 

Liquor Gutta-Perchse (Solution of Gutta 

Fermentum (Yeast), 

Mel (Honey), . 

Saccharum (Sugar), 

Saccharum Lactis (Sugar 

Carbo Ligni (Charcoal), 
Order III. Colouring Agents, . 

Crocus (Saffron), 

Santalum (Red Saunders) 

Coccus (Cochineal), 
Order IV. Anthelmintics, . 

Spigelia, 

Chenopodium (Wormseed), 

Santonica, 

Azedarach, 

Mucuna (Cowhage) . 

Filix Mas (Male Fern), 

Granati Radicis Cortex (Bark of Pomegranate 

Oleum Terebinthinge (Oil of Turpentine), 

Calomel, ....... 

Brayera (Koosso), 

Rottlera (Kameela), .... 

Pepo (Pumpkin Seed), .... 



of Milk),. 



Percha), 



Roo 



t), 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



The agents employed in the treatment of diseases are de- 
nominated Remedies, and the branch of medicine which is 
devoted to their consideration is termed Materia Medica. 
Remedies may be divided into Hygienic, Mechanical, Impon- 
derable and Pharmacological agents. 

Hygienic Remedies are usually treated of in works spe- 
cially devoted to the subject. 



PART I. 

MECHANICAL REMEDIES. 

Mechanical Remedies belong chiefly to Surgery. A few 
agents of this class are, however, employed in' the practice of 
medicine, and are included in the Materia Medica. They are 
bloodletting (general and local), setons, issues, bandages, friction, 
and acupuncture. 

1. General Bloodletting is performed principally by 
venesection or phlebotomy, which is usually practised on the 
median-cephalic or basilic veins of the arm — sometimes also 
on the external jugular and other veins. Arteriotomy is occa- 
sionally resorted to, on the temporal artery, in cerebral affec- 
tions. 

2 



18 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Bloodletting is employed, to moderate vascular excitement, 
reduce inflammatory action, relieve congestion, allay spasm 
and pain, relax the muscular system, promote absorption, and 
arrest hemorrhage ; and for these purposes it is a most avail- 
able therapeutical resource. So powerful and exhausting an 
agent is, however, always to be resorted to with caution and 
discrimination ; is not to be unduly repeated, even in inflam- 
matory cases ; and is seldom or never proper in diseases of a 
typhoid tendency, or where a tubercular diathesis is suspected, 
or in extreme infancy and old age. 

2. The Local Abstraction of Blood is practised by 
means of leeches and cups. The leech (liirudd) is an aquatic 
worm, common throughout Europe, America and India. The 
European leech (h. medicinalis, termed also sanguisuga offici- 
nalis), is of a blackish or grayish green colour on the back, 
from two to three or four inches in length, and is characterized 
by six longitudinal dorsal ferruginous stripes, the four lateral 
ones being interrupted or tesselated with black spots. The 
American leech (Ji. decora), is usually from two to three inches 
long, and is of a deep green colour, with three longitudinal 
dorsal rows of square spots. Both the imported and indige- 
nous leech are employed in this country, but the latter makes 
a smaller incision, and is preferable in infantile cases. When 
the discharge of blood from leech-bites is excessive, it may be 
arrested by pressure, by compresses, of lint, the application of 
alum, creasote, -solution of subsulphate of iron, and other styp- 
tics, or by touching the wounds with nitrate of silver ; and if 
these means fail, the wounds may be sewed. 

In the operation of cupping, cupping-glasses and a scarifi- 
cator are employed. The removal of atmospheric pressure, 
by the application of glasses partially exhausted of air, pro- 
duces a determination of blood to the capillaries of a part, and 
it is afterwards readily drawn by scarification. When blood is 
not abstracted, the operation is termed dry cupping, and is a 
valuable revulsive agent. The topical abstraction of blood by 
leeches and cut cups combines the advantages of depletion and 



MECHANICAL REMEDIES. 19 

revulsion. Leeches are employed in external inflammations, 
in situations where cups are inadmissible, and in infantile cases. 
Cups are generally preferable in internal inflammations, from 
their more decided revulsive influence. When blood is drawn 
by leeches, its continued flow may be promoted by the applica- 
tion of warm fomentations to the wounds. 

3. Setons (Setacea) and Issues (Fonticuli), are employed 
when a permanent counter-irritant effect is desired. A seton 
is established by passing through the integument a seton-needle, 
armed with a skein of silk ; or, a piece of tape, or a strip of 
sheet-lead may be used for the purpose. An issue is made 
with a cauterant, usually potassa ; and, after the slough has 
separated, a discharge is maintained by the introduction of an 
issue-pea, for which purpose a common dried pea is used, or a 
dried unripe Curagoa orange, Or a small round ball, made of 
Florentine orris root. 

4. Bandages are employed, in the practice of medicine, to 
promote the absorption of dropsical effusions. For the same 
purpose, strips of adhesive plaster may be applied to the chest, 
in chronic pleurisy and empyema, in the manner in which they 
are employed in the treatment of fractured ribs. 

5. Frictions are useful as revellents, and as local stimu- 
lants. They may be employed either with the dry hand, or 
with horse-hair gloves, or with liniments. 

6. Acupuncture consists in the introduction into the body 
of fine, well-polished, sharp-pointed needles. It is a useful 
remedy in rheumatism, neuralgia, local paralysis, &c, and is 
sometimes conjoined with electricity, when the operation is 
known as Electro-puncture. 



20 MATERIA MEDICA. 



PART II. 

IMPONDERABLE REMEDIES. 

Under this head are included Light, Heat, Cold, and Elec- 
tricity. 

1. Light (Lux), exercises an important influence in the 
organized world as a vivifying stimulus. It is useful as a 
therapeutic agent, in diseases dependent on imperfect nutri- 
tion and sanguification ; and the exposure of the surface of 
the body to its action, as far as nudity is compatible with proper 
warmth, promotes the regular development and strength of the 
organs. On the other hand, in many diseases the action of 
light is injurious, and darkness is resorted to as a sedative and 
tranquilizing agent. 

2. Heat (Color), applied to the human system in moderate 
amount, acts, both locally and generally, as an excitant ; in 
intense degree, it destroys vitality and organization. It is 
employed as a local excitant and revulsive, by means of hot 
bottles, hot bricks, the hot foot-bath, &c, and as an applica- 
tion to painful and inflamed parts, in the form of poultices and 
fomentations. As a general application, heat is chiefly resorted 
to in the form of the water-bath and vapour-bath. The warm 
bath, at a temperature from 92° to 98° F., is used as a relax- 
ant in dislocations, hernise, spasm, infantile convulsions, croup, 
&c, and also for its action on the skin in rheumatic and chronic 
cutaneous affections. The hot bath has a temperature of from 
98° to 112°, and is a powerful excitant in cases of exhaustion, 
asphyxia, or suffocation, and is employed also in old paralytic 
and rheumatic cases. The hot air-bath, at a temperature of 



IMPONDERABLE REMEDIES. 21 

from 98° to 130°, is useful as an excitant, diaphoretic, and 
revellent, and is employed in cases of internal congestion, to 
produce vicarious action from the skin, where the secretion 
from other organs, as the kidneys, is suspended, and in rheu- 
matic, neuralgic, and cutaneous affections. The hot vapour-bath 
is adapted to the same class of cases as the hot air-hath, and 
exerts a more marked diaphoretic and relaxing influence. 

The destructive agency of heat is resorted to for the purpose 
of vesication, as by the application to the skin of a metallic 
plate heated to 212° by immersion in boiling water ; and of 
cauterization, by the employment of red-hot iron, or of moxa. 
Hot iron (known a^ the actual cautery), is used chiefly as a 
styptic. The term moxa is applied to small masses of com- 
bustible matter, which are burnt slowly in contact with the 
skin, with a view to a revulsive effect in deep-seated inflamma- 
tions, nervous affections, &c. 

3. Cold {'Frigus). — The application of cold to living bodies 
produces a reduction of the temperature and volume of the 
part, with contraction of the bloodvessels and other tissues, and 
suspension of the secretions and exhalations. The application 
of excessive or prolonged cold is followed by the torpor and 
death of the part. When it is applied in moderation and for 
a short period, reaction generally takes place, with a return 
and even increase of temperature, volume, colour, and sen- 
sibility. 

Cold is employed therapeutically, with a view to both its 
primary and secondary effects. The primary action of cold is 
used, 1. To lessen vascular and nervous excitement and preter- 
natural heat, as by the use of cold lotions and spongings in 
fevers, the ice-cap in cerebral affections, the shower-bath in 
insanity, the bladder filled with ice to the spine in epilepsy, the 
ether spray to the spine in chorea, &c. 2. To constringe the 
tissues, promote the coagulation of the blood, and lessen the 
volume of parts ; hence the local application of ice or cold 
water to abate inflammation, check hemorrhage, cure aneurism, 
and reduce strangulated hernia. 3. To produce local anaesthesia 



22 MATERIA MEDTCA. 

in surgical operations, by means of a freezing mixture topically 
applied. 

The secondary effects of cold are obtained by the employ- 
ment of a less intense degree of cold. They are resorted to, 
1. To invigorate the system, as with the cold shower-bath and 
plunge-bath. 2. To rouse the system, as by cold affusions in 
coma, asphyxia, syncope, and the narcotism from opium, chloro- 
form, hydrocyanic acid, alcohol, &c. 3. In spasmodic diseases, 
as laryngismus stridulus, chorea, &c. 4. To recall the vital 
properties to frost-bitten parts. 5. To effect local excitation, 
as by the application of the cold douche to rheumatic and 
paralyzed limbs. 

The cold bath, or packing in a cold wet sheet, is employed in 
sun-stroke, and in fevers, where the temperature of the body is 
very high, as scarlet fever. 

The icebag is sometimes applied along the spine in convul- 
sive diseases, as epilepsy, tetanus, and infantile convulsions, 
and even in diseases of the secreting organs. 

Cold liquids and ice are taken into the stomach as refrige- 
rants in fevers. They are introduced into the rectum and 
vagina, to check hemorrhage and allay irritation ; and cold 
water, injected into the impregnated uterus, is among the most 
certain means of inducing premature delivery. 

4. Electricity (Electricitas). — The electric current acts as 
an excitant to the nerves both of sensation and motion. It 
influences to some extent, also, the secretions, through its action 
on the nerves distributed to the secreting organs ; it may 
promote the function of absorption, through an effect on the 
absorbents ; and it affects the circulation, by inducing contrac- 
tions of the heart. A powerful charge of electricity produces 
violent and frequently fatal effects on the central nervous 
system. 

The various forms of electricity are resorted to for their 
stimulant effect in a number of nervous affections. It is chiefly 
used in cases of local and functional paralysis, which are inde- 
pendent of lesion of the nervous centres. It has also been 



PHARMACOLOGICAL REMEDIES. 23 

employed with occasional good effect in amaurosis, nervous 
deafness, neuralgia, photophobia, chronic rheumatism, chorea, 
hysteria, and other neuroses, and to excite uterine contractions. 
From its influence on the secretions, it has been prescribed as 
an emmenagogue, to overcome constipation, to promote the 
biliary secretion, and to heal ulcers. It has been also resorted 
to with success to promote the absorption of tumours and indu- 
rations. In the form of electro-magnetism, it is a powerful 
excitant in the coma resulting from narcotic poisons, and in 
asphyxia generally, and is probably the most active remedy 
that can be exhibited in these cases. 

For medicinal purposes, electricity is obtained from three 
sources : 

1. Friction, as in the common electrical machine. 

2. Chemical action, as in the voltaic battery. 

3. Magnetism, either of temporary magnets, as in the coil 
machines, or of permanent magnets, as in the electro-magnetic 
machines. 



PART III. 
PHARMACOLOGICAL REMEDIES. 

Pharmacological Remedies, or Medicines, are substances, 
not essentially alimentary, which, when applied to the body, so 
alter or modify its vital functions, as to be rendered applicable 
to the treatment of diseases. 

The designation, Materia Medica, is strictly speaking 
limited to the consideration of medicines. The application of 
medicines to the treatment of diseases is termed Therapeutics. 
Pharmacy is the department of Materia Medica which treats 
of the collection, preparation, preservation, and dispensation of 
medicines. 

To the student of medicine, the objects of examination in 



24 MATERIA MEDICA. 

relation to medicines are,-— the sources from which they are 
derived; the mode in which they are prepared and brought to 
market; their sensible qualities, and also their chemical com- 
position and relations ; their physiological effects, or the effects 
which they are capable of producing in healthy individuals ; 
their therapeutical effects, or those which they produce in morbid 
states of the system ; and lastly, the doses, modes of adminis- 
tration, and preparations (extemporaneous and officinal), under 
which they are administered. 

To facilitate a uniform nomenclature and dispensation of 
medicines, authoritative works have been issued in different 
countries, termed Pharmacopoeias. The Pharmacopoeia of the 
United States was first promulgated by the authority of a con- 
vention held at Washington, in 1820, and it has been since re- 
vised decennially. It furnishes a list of articles which are in 
general use, sets forth the weights and measures which are em- 
ployed in dispensing and preparing them, and supplies formulae 
for such preparations as should be kept in the shops, and which 
are thence termed officinal, from the Latin word officina, a shop. 

The effects of medicines take place either in the parts to 
which they are applied, or in distant parts of the system. 
The former are termed local or topical effects ; the latter, re- 
mote or constitutional effects. 



MODUS OPERANDI OF MEDICINES. 

The medium through which the influence of medicines is ex- 
erted on remote parts of the body, or their modus operandi (as 
it is usually termed), was long a contested point. Until within 
a comparatively recent period, it was maintained that medicines 
and poisons transmitted their impressions from the parts receiv- 
ing them to distant parts, by means of a communication through 
the nerves. But it is now generally admitted, that the absorption 
or passage of the medicinal or poisonous molecules into the blood 
is necessary to their action on parts remote from the seat of 
impression. 



MODUS OPERANDI OF MEDICINES. 25 

While, however, it is well established, that the characteristic 
action of medicines is transmitted to the parts influenced, ex- 
clusively through the medium of the circulation, it is undeni- 
able that the functions of the nervous system may be second- 
arily excited by a local medicinal impression. The number of 
agents which operate in this manner is, however, very limited. 

The action of medicines by absorption is proved by a variety 
of facts. 

They are detected in many parts of the system, remote from 
that to which they have been applied, having been found in the 
blood, the solids, and the excretions, after being taken into the 
stomach. If the circulation be interrupted, the influence of a 
poison cannot be transmitted ; while its effects have been ob- 
tained, when applied to a wound in the foot of an animal, after 
all parts of the extremity have been severed, except the artery 
and vein. In confirmation of the doctrine of absorption may 
be cited also the admitted facts, that the remote effects of 
medicines or poisons are promoted or retarded by circum- 
stances which promote or retard absorption ; that the blood of 
poisoned animals is found to possess poisonous properties ; that 
the fluids and solids acquire medicinal properties after the use 
of medicines (as the milk of nurses) ; that the specific effects of 
medicines are produced by their injection into the blood; and 
that medicines disappear from closed cavities into which they 
are introduced. 

After their absorption into the blood, medicines circulate 
with it, penetrate through the capillaries to the various organs, 
and are afterwards thrown out of the system with the excre- 
tions. Some medicines produce changes in the condition of the 
circulating fluid. Others have a specific action upon some one 
or other of the organs of the body. And in passing out of the 
system, most medicines act as stimulants to the organs by 
which they are thrown out. 

The absorption of medicines is effected principally by the 
veins, and in some degree also by the lymphatics and lacteals. 
The medicinal particles penetrate or soak through the inter- 
stices of the tissue with which they are placed in contact, and 



26 MATERIA MEDICA. 

are thence diffused through the circulation. To a limited extent, 
medicinal substances probably penetrate all the tissues of the 
part to which they are applied, and in this way the activity of 
medicines is most decided upon the organs contiguous to the 
seat of application. 

The absorption of insoluble substances cannot take place 
until they are previously rendered soluble. In the stomach, 
this is accomplished chiefly by the agency of the acids of diges- 
tion, lactic and muriatic. 

It is objected to the theory of the operation of medicines by 
absorption, that certain poisons act with a rapidity incompati- 
ble with their previous introduction into the circulation. This 
is, however, not the fact, as the action of the most violent 
poisons (hydrocyanic acid, for example), is never wholly instan- 
taneous ; and careful experiments have shown that the velocity 
of the circulation is sufficient to diffuse a poison through the 
blood in a shorter space of time than its effects are ever 
observed on the system. 



CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MODIFY THE EFFECTS OF MEDICINES. 

The circumstances which modify the effects of medicines 
relate both to the medicines and to the human system. 

1. The properties of medicines are modified by the soil in 
which they grow, by climate, cultivation, age, and the season 
of the year at which they are gathered. 

2. Medicines are more active, because more readily absorbed, 
in a state of solution than in a solid state. 

3. Soluble medicines are often rendered inert by a chemical 
reaction which converts them into insolubles: in this way anti- 
dotes modify the effects of poisons. 

4. Differences in dose greatly modify the effects of medi- 
cines. 

5. Pharmaceutical modifications have an important influence 
on the efficacy of medicines. They may be exhibited in the 
solid, semi-solid, liquid, and aeriform states : 



FORMS IN WHICH MEDICINES ARE USED. 27 

In the solid state they are administered in the shape of pow- 
ders, pills, lozenges, confections, and papers. 

In the liquid state, they are administered in the shape of 
mixtures, solutions, medicated waters, infusions, decoctions, 
tinctures, spirits, wines, juices, vinegars, honeys, syrups, and 
glycerites. 

In the semi-solid, or soft state, they are employed internally, 
in the form of suppositories, and externally, in that of lini- 
ments, ointments, cerates, plasters, and cataplasms. 

In the form of gases and vapours, medicines are used for pur- 
poses of inhalation. 



SOLIDS. 

Powders (Pulveres). The form of powder is usually se- 
lected for the administration of medicines, which are not very 
bulky, nor of very disagreeable taste, which have no corrosive 
property, and which do not deliquesce rapidly on exposure. 
Deliquescent substances, and such as contain a large proportion 
of fixed or volatile oil, should always be recently pulverized, as 
they deteriorate when kept. Most substances, employed in the 
form of powder, are usually pulverized on a large scale. For 
the purpose of pulverizing drugs in small quantity, the physician 
makes- use of a pestle and mortar, of iron, brass, glass, Wedge- 
wood ware, or marble. Various means are resorted to, to facili- 
tate the operation of powdering, and care should be taken to 
separate the inert portions and impurities. 

The lighter powders may be administered in water or other 
thin liquid. The heavier powders require a more consistent 
vehicle, as syrup, treacle, or honey. 

Pills (Pilulce), are small globular masses, of a size that can 
be conveniently swallowed. The form of a pill is suitable for 
the exhibition of medicines which are not bulky, and are of dis- 
agreeable taste or smell, or insoluble in water. Deliquescent 
substances should not be made into pills, and those which are 



28 MATEKIA MEDICA. 

efflorescent should be previously deprived of their water of 
crystallization. 

Some substances are readily made into pills, "with the addi- 
tion of a little water or spirit. Very soft or liquid substances 
require the addition of some dry inert powder, as bread-crumb, 
or powdered gum Arabic, to reduce them to a proper consistence. 
Wax is a good excipient for oils. 

Heavy powders are mixed with some soft solid, as confection 
of rose, plasma, manna, &c, or with a tenacious liquid, as 
treacle, or syrup. When the pilular mass is properly prepared, 
it is rolled with a spatula into a cylinder of uniform thickness, 
and is then divided into the required number of pills, with the 
hand, or more accurately, with a pill-tile, or with a pill-machine. 
The pills are rolled into spherical form between the fingers ; 
and, to prevent adhesion, are dusted with some dry powder, as 
powdered liquorice root or carbonate of magnesium. To conceal 
the taste and smell of pills, they are sometimes coated with 
gelatin, collodion, mucilage, sugar, &c. When they are de- 
signed to be of slow operation, the modern practice of sugar- 
coating pills answers very well. But when they are intended 
to act quickly, the coating is objectionable, as it retards the 
solution of the pills in the gastric fluids. Pills, which have been 
long kept, may pass unchanged through the stomach and bowels, 
and are therefore objectionable. 

Troches or Lozenges (Trochisci), are small, dry, solid 
masses, made of powders with sugar and mucilage, and in- 
tended to be held in the mouth and allowed to dissolve slowly. 
Mucilage of tragacanth is. usually employed in preparing 
lozenges. 

Confections (Confectiones) r are soft solid preparations, made 
with some saccharine matter. They are subdivided into Con- 
serves and Electuaries: the former consist of combinations of 
recent vegetable substances and refined sugar, beat into a uni- 
form mass ; the latter are extemporaneous mixtures of medi- 
cines, usually dry powders, with syrup r honey, or treacle. 



FORMS IN WHICH MEDICINES ARE USED. 29 

Papers (Chartce), are preparations designed for external ap- 
plication, which are made by spreading mixtures of medicinal 
substances, as cantharides or mustard, upon paper. 



LIQUIDS. 

Mixtures (Misturce), are preparations of insoluble sub- 
stances, suspended in water by means of gum Arabic, sugar, 
the yolk of eggs, or other viscid matter. When the suspended 
substance is oleaginous, the mixture is termed an emulsion. 

Solutions (Liquores\ are solutions (chiefly aqueous) of 
non-volatile substances, which are wholly soluble -in the men- 
struum employed. In making solutions, and all other aqueous 
preparations, the water used should be fresh river, rain, or dis- 
tilled water, and free from saline impurities. 

Medicated Waters (Aquce), are preparations consisting of 
water holding volatile or gaseous substances in solution. 
Many of them, having been made by distilling water from 
plants containing volatile oil, were formerly termed distilled 
waters. In place of distillation, trituration with carbonate of 
magnesium (afterwards separated by filtration) is now employed 
to impregnate water with volatile oils. 

Infusions (Infusa), are partial solutions of vegetable sub- 
stances in water, obtained without the aid of ebullition. They 
are made with both hot and cold water ; the former extracts 
the soluble principle more rapidly and in larger proportion ; 
the latter is preferred, when the active principle would be in- 
jured by heat, or when it is desirable not to take up some 
matter, insoluble at a low temperature. Infusions have been 
usually made by pouring water upon the substances to be in- 
fused, and allowing it to remain upon them for some time ; 
when the process takes place at a heat of from 60° to 90°, it 
is termed maceration; when at a heat of from 90° to 100°, 
digestion. Of late years, a more efficient mode of extracting 



30 MATERIA MEDICA. 

the medicinal virtues of plants has been introduced, termed 
percolation or displacement. In this operation, the medicinal 
substance is coarsely powdered, and placed in a conical or 
nearly cylindrical instrument called a percolator, in the lower 
part of which is fitted a porous or colander-like partition or 
diaphragm. The powder is then saturated with water or other 
menstruum, till it will absorb no more ; and, after they have 
remained for some time in contact, fresh portions of the men- 
struum are added, till, the required quantity is employed. 
The fresh liquid, as it is successively added, percolates the 
solid particles of the medicinal substance, driving the pre- 
viously saturated liquid before it ; and in this way completely 
exhausts the substance to be dissolved. An ordinary glass 
funnel answers very well for percolation ; and a circular piece 
of muslin or lint, pressed into the neck by means of a cork 
with notched sides, forms a good diaphragm — care being taken 
to interpose a similar piece of muslin, moistened slightly with 
the menstruum, between the diaphragm and powder. 

Decoctions (Deeocta), are partial solutions of vegetable sub- 
stances in water, in which the active principles are obtained 
by ebullition. This is a more rapid and active mode of ex- 
tracting the virtues of plants than by infusion. But it is objec- 
tionable, when the proximate principles are volatile at a boil- 
ing heat, or undergo decomposition by ebullition. In making 
decoctions, ebullition should be continued for a few minutes 
only, and the liquid should be allowed to cool slowly in a close 
vessel. As they are apt to spoil, they should be prepared 
only when wanted for use. 

Tinctures (Tincturce), are solutions of medicinal substances 
in alcohol or diluted alcohol. Ammonia and ethereal spirit 
are also sometimes employed as solvents; and solutions in 
these menstrua are called ammoniated tinctures and ethereal 
tinctures. Alcohol or rectified spirit (of a sp. gr. 0.835, 
according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia), is employed in making 
tinctures of substances nearly or quite insoluble in water, as 



FORMS IN WHICH MEDICINES ARE USED. 31 

the resins, essential oils, camphor, &c. Diluted alcohol or 
proof spirit (consisting of equal measures of officinal alcohol 
and water) is preferred, when the substance is soluble both 
in alcohol and water, or when some of its ingredients are 
soluble in the one menstruum and some in the other. Tinc- 
tures have been usually prepared by maceration or digestion, 
nore commonly by the former process, and a period of two 
weeks is recommended for its duration. It should be conducted 
in well-closed glass vessels, which should be frequently shaken ; 
and when the maceration is completed, the tincture should be 
separated from the dregs by filtration. The U. S. Pharmaco- 
poeia now recommends percolation in making most tinctures, 
and, in the hands of skilful pharmaceutists, this process is 
preferable, as the most thorough mode of exhausting medi- 
cinal substances ; but where the operator cannot trust him- 
self, it is better to recur to the old process of maceration. 
Tinctures should be kept in bottles accurately stoppered, to 
prevent evaporation, which might seriously increase their 
strength. 

The form of tincture is adapted to the exhibition of medi- 
cines, which are to be given in small quantity, and it affords a 
convenient mode of graduating doses. In prescribing large 
and continued doses of tinctures, the stimulating effects of the 
alcohol which they contain must be borne in mind. 

Spirits (Spiritus), are alcoholic solutions of volatile or gase- 
ous principles, properly speaking procured by distillation, but 
now usually prepared by dissolving the volatile principles in 
alcohol or diluted alcohol. The spirits of the aromatic vegeta- 
ble oils are used to give a pleasant odour and taste to mixtures, 
to correct the nauseating and griping effects of cathartics, and 
also as carminatives and stomachics. 

Wines ( Vina), are solutions of medicinal substances in 
Sherry or other white wine. They are more liable to decompo- 
sition than tinctures, and are of variable strength ; but they 
are in some cases preferred from the less stimulating character 



32 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of the menstruum, which has also sometimes an increase of 
solvent power, from the acid which it contains. 

Juices (Sued), are the expressed juices of fresh plants, pre- 
served by the addition of one-fifth of their measure of alcohol. 

Vinegars (Aceta\ are infusions or solutions of medicinal 
substances in distilled vinegar or diluted acetic acid, which is a 
particularly good solvent of many vegetable principles, as the 
organic alkalies. 

Honeys (Mellita), are preparations of medicinal substances 
in honey. In oxymels, a combination of honey and vinegar is 
employed. The latter preparations are not now officinal. 

Syrups (Syrupi), are preparations of medicinal substances 
in concentrated solutions of sugar. The term syrup {syrupus), 
or simple syrup, is applied to a solution of sugar (thirty-six 
troy ounces) in water (Oij f§xij), dissolved with the aid of heat, 
Medicated syrups are usually made by incorporating sugar with 
vegetable infusions, decoctions, expressed juices, fermented 
liquors, or simple aqueous solutions. They may also be pre • 
pared by adding a tincture to simple syrup, and afterwards 
evaporating the alcohol ; or, by mixing the tincture with sugar 
in coarse powder, and dissolving the impregnated sugar, after 
evaporation, in the necessary proportion of water. Syrups are 
apt to be spoiled by heat, and should be made in small quanti- 
ties at a time. 

By the evaporation of the solutions of vegetable principles, 
a very useful class of preparations termed ^Extracts (Uxtracta), 
is obtained. They are prepared from infusions, decoctions, 
tinctures, and vinegars ; and sometimes, in the case of recent 
vegetables, from the expressed juices of plants, usually diluted 
with water. Extracts prepared by the agency of water, are 
termed watery extracts ; those by means of alcohol, alcoliolic 
extracts; those by means of acetic acid, acetic extracts. The 
evaporation of extracts is generally continued, till they have a 



FORMS IN WHICH MEDICINES ARE USED. 33 

pilular consistence. Within a few years, however, these pre- 
parations have been employed in the liquid form, under the 
name of Fluid Extracts (Extracta Fluida), which have the ad- 
vantage of convenience of administration, and of being pre- 
pared at a less degree of heat. They are more liable than the 
solid extracts to spontaneous decomposition ; and this difficulty 
is usually counteracted by means of sugar. In making the 
fluid extracts, alcohol and glycerin are the menstrua chiefly re- 
sorted to. The portion of the solvent, which remains after 
evaporation, contributes in some degree to the preservation of 
the preparation. 

Glycerites (Grlycei'ita), are solutions of medicinal substances 
in glycerin, made by rubbing them together in a mortar. 

The Oleoresins (Oleoresince), are extracts obtained by the 
agency of ether, which consist of fixed or volatile oils, holding 
resins and sometimes other active matters in solution. They 
retain a liquid or semi-liquid state, upon the evaporation of the 
liquid employed in their preparation, and have the property of 
self-preservation. 

Suppositories (Suppositoria), are soft solids, made by 
mixture of a medicinal substance with the oil of theobroma, 
usually in a conical form, of a weight of thirty grains, and 
designed for introduction into the rectum. 

SEMI-SOLIDS. 

Liniments (Linimenta), are oily preparations designed for 
external use, usually thicker than water, but always liquid at 
the temperature of the body. 

Ointments ( Unguenta), are preparations of a consistence 
like that of butter, made with lard or some other fatty sub- 
stance. They are fitted for application to the skin by friction 
or inunction. Most of the ointments become rancid, when long 
kept, and it is therefore best to prepare them only as wanted 

3 



34 MATERIA MEDICA. 

for use. The term, ointment (ungtientum), is applied to a 
mixture of one part of yellow wax and four parts of lard. 

Cerates (Cerata), are made of oil or lard, mixed with wax, 
spermaceti, or resin, with the addition of various medicinal 
substances. They are of harder consistence than ointments, 
and do not melt when applied to the skin. The term, cerate, 
(ceratum), is applied to a mixture of one part of white wax and 
two parts of lard. 

Plasters (Lmplastra), are adhesive at the temperature of 
the body, and must generally be heated to be spread. Some 
substances have sufficient consistence and adhesiveness to be 
made into plasters. Usually, however, medicinal substances 
when employed in this form, are mixed with Lead Plaster or 
Litharge Plaster (Emplastrum Plumbi), a compound of olive 
oil and litharge. Plasters are prepared for use by spreading 
them upon sheepskin, linen, or muslin, with a margin a quarter 
or half inch broad. 

Cataplasms, or Poultices (Cataplasmata), are soft, moist 
substances, intended for external use. The common emollient 
poultice, employed to relieve inflammation and promote suppu- 
ration, is made by mixing bread-crumbs with boiling milk, or 
pow T dered flaxseed with boiling water. 

gases and vapours. 

When employed in this form, medicines are administered by 
inhalation. This may be effected either by diffusing the gas or 
vapour through the air to be respired by the patient ; or by in- 
closing it in a bag or bottle with a suitable tube, through which 
the patient may breathe; or, when ethereal vapours are em- 
ployed, by saturating a sponge or handkerchief with the ether, 
and applying it to the mouth and nostrils of the patient ; or 
the fumes of burning medicinal substances may be inhaled, by 
means of cigarettes or pipes, variously contrived! 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 



35 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 



In prescribing and dispensing medicines, the following are 
the weights and measures employed in the United States, with 
their signs annexed. 



The pound, lb 
The ounce 
The drachm 
The scruple 



TROY OR APOTHECARIES' WEIGHT. 



contains 



Twelve ounces, 3j. 
Eight drachms, 3. 
Three scruples, ^. 
Twenty grains, gr. 



The term pound should be avoided in formulae, owing to the 
danger of mistakes from confounding the troy pound with the 
heavier avoirdupois pound, and large weights should be ex- 
pressed in troyounees. The drachm and scruple are also now 
disused by the United States Pharmacopoeia, and are replaced 
by their equivalents in grains. 

In France and other parts of the continent of Europe, a 
system of metrical weights is employed, the relation of which 
to those used in the United States, is as follows : 1 grain == 
6.479 centigrammes ; 1 scruple == 1.295 grammes ; 1 drachm 
= 3.887 grammes ; 1 ounce == 3.1103 decagrammes ; 1 pound 
= 3.7324 hectogrammes ; or, 1 centigramme = about ^ grain ; 
1 decigramme = about 1 J grain ; 1 gramme = about 15 grains; 
1 decagramme = about 2 J drachms ; 1 hectogramme = about 3 
troyounees and 5 scruples ; 1 kilogramme = about 2 pounds 
and 8 troyounees ; 1 myriogramme = about 26 pounds, 9 troy- 
ounees, and 4 drachms. 



The gallon, C ~| 
The pint 
The fluidounce f 
The fluidrachm J 



WINE MEASURE. 



contains 



f Eight pints, 0. 
Sixteen fluidounces, fi 



j Eight fluidrachms, f£. 
[ Sixty mimims, n\,. 



The term gallon is not used by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, that 
measure being always expressed in pints. 



36 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Liquid measures are sometimes prescribed by drops, which, 
however, vary in quantity according to the nature of the 
liquid, the shape and size of the vessel from which it is dropped, 
and even the amount of liquid which the vessel contains. 
(Thus a fluidrachm of distilled water contains only 45 drops, 
while this measure of alcohol and of most tinctures contains 120 
drops, and of chloroform, 220 drops or even more.) Approxi- 
mate measurements are also frequently employed in prescribing 
the less powerful liquids : thus a teacup is used for f§iv, or a 
gill ; a wineglass for f'Sij ; a tablespoon for f§ss ; a teaspoon 
for f5j. 

The French measures, although not adopted by the U. S. 
Pharmacopoeia, are now a good deal used : 1 fluidounce = 31 
cubic centimetres ; 1 c. c. or 1 gramme = 15J grains of dis- 
tilled water. 

A variety of circumstances, relating to the human organism, 
modify the effects of medicines. 

Age exerts a most important influence in this particular. 
Children are more susceptible than adults : and in advanced 
age, also, smaller doses are required than in the prime of life. 
No general rule can be laid down for the adaptation of the 
doses of medicines to different ages, as the different suscepti- 
bilities to the influence of different medicines are unequal at the 
same age. Thus, infants are peculiarly alive to impressions 
from opium, while, in the case of calomel and castor oil, they 
will bear much larger proportional doses. 

Dr. Young's scheme for graduating the doses of medicines 
to different ages answers very well in prescribing : For chil- 
dren under 12 years, the doses of most medicines must be di- 
minished in the proportion of the age to the age increased by 

2 

12; thus, at two years to {, viz.. : ^T^r^h' ^ ^' *^ e fVtll 
dose may be given. 

Sex, temperament, and idiosyncrasy, all modify the effects of 
medicines. Women require somewhat smaller doses than men; 
and during menstruation, pregnancy, and lactation, all active 



PARTS TO WHICH MEDICLnIs ARE APPLIED. 37 

treatment, which is not imperatively demanded, should be 
avoided. To persons of a sanguine temperament, stimulants 
are to be administered with caution, while in cases of nervous 
temperament, the same care is to be observed in the employ- 
ment of evacuants. Mercurials are called for where the bilious 
temperament exists, but on the other hand they are generally 
injurious where the lymphatic temperament is strongly marked. 
Idiosyncrasy renders many individuals peculiarly susceptible 
or insusceptible to the action of particular medicines, as mer- 
cury, opium, &c. 

Habit diminishes the influence of many medicines, espe- 
cially narcotics ; and not a few diseases produce a remarkable 
insusceptibility to medicinal action. 

The influence of race, climate, occupation, and the imagina- 
tion upon the effects of medicines is often decided, and deserves 
attention in prescribing. 



PARTS TO WHICH MEDICINES ARE APPLIED. 

Medicines are applied to the skin, to mucous membranes, to 
serous membranes, to wounds, ulcers, cysts, and abscesses, and 
they are injected into the veins. 

1. To the Skin. — Medicines are applied to the skin for both 
a local and a general effect. As their influence on distant 
organs is the result of their absorption, this function is usually 
assisted by friction, or by removal of the cuticle, when medicines 
are applied to the skin to affect remote parts of the system. 

The application of medicines to the skin by friction is occa- 
sionally resorted to, but its results are slow and uncertain ; 
and, when we wish to affect the system through the agency of 
the skin, the preferable method is to apply the medicine to the 
dermis denuded of the cuticle. 

This is termed the endermic method, and the cuticle is usually 
removed by means of a blister. The medicine is applied to the 
denuded dermis in the form of a powder, or, if very irritating, 
it may be incorporated with gelatine, lard, or cerate. This 
method is useful in case of irritability of the stomach, of ina- 



38 materia medica. 

bility to swallow, or where we desire to influence the system 
rapidly, and by every possible avenue, or where it is of import- 
ance to apply the medicine near the seat of disease. The dose 
is to be two or three times the amount which is administered 
by the stomach. 

Another method of applying medicines through the skin is 
by injection into the subcutaneous cellular tissue. This method 
is termed the hypodermic method, and is of recent introduction 
into therapeutics. Medicines are injected hypodermically, for 
both a local and a general effect. A constitutional impression 
can be produced by this means much more rapidly and efficiently 
than by the introduction of medicines into the stomach. It is 
particularly adapted to the speedy relief of pain, to the treat- 
ment of. diseases, in which it is desirable to influence the system 
with the greatest possible rapidity and effect, and also to cases 
where the internal administration of medicines is interfered 
with. The substances proper for hypodermic injection, are 
those which are small in bulk and are of ready solubility, such 
as the vegetable alkaloids. Substances of imperfect solubility 
should not be injected hypodermically, dangerous results hav- 
ing followed therefrom, as from the use of the salts of quinia. 
The dose, particularly in first injections, should be one half the 
ordinary dose by the stomach, and for females about a third. 
The instrument used for injection is a small syringe armed 
with a small, sharp lancet, and for the better regulation of the 
dose, it is desirable that the syringe should be graduated. 
When a constitutional effect only is aimed at, a good spot for 
injection is at the insertion of the deltoid muscle in the arm, 
and where repeated operations are practised, it is well to vary 
the point of injection. 

2. To Mucous Membranes. — Medicines are applied to all the 
gastro-pulmonary and genito-urinary mucous surfaces. 

a. To the conjunctiva, they are applied for local effects only, 
and are termed collyria, or eye-washes. 

b. To the nasal or pituitary membrane, they are applied 
usually for local purposes ; sometimes, however, to irritate, and 
excite a discharge, when they are termed errhines ; sometimes, 
also, to produce sneezing, with a view to the expulsion of 



PARTS TO WHICH MEDICINES ARE APPLIED. 



39 



foreign bodies from the nasal cavities, when they are termed 
sternutatories. 

c. To the mucous membrane of the mouth and throat, medi- 
cines are applied almost exclusively for local purposes. When 
in solution, they are termed gargarismata or gargles. Powders 
are introduced by insufflation. 

d. To the Eustachian tubes, washes are applied in local affec- 
tions. 

e. On the aerial or tracheo -bronchial membrane, medicines 
produce a very decided influence, both local and general. 
Liquid substances are introduced into the air passages by 
means of a sponge or syringe, in the treatment of chronic in- 
flammations of the larynx. Various substances are inhaled with 
advantage in phthisis, chronic bronchitis and laryngitis, asthma, 
&c, while the most powerful effects are produced on the system 
by the absorption of ethereal vapours and gases through the 
pulmonary surface. 

Within the last few years, liquids have been introduced 
into the air-passages, for the treatment of diseases of the res- 
piratory organs, in the form of a fine spray. This mode of 
application, termed the 'pulverization, nebulization, or atomiza- 

Fig. l. 




tion of fluids, has proved very valuable, particularly in the 
relief of throat affections. Various instruments have been 
resorted to in the atomization of liquids. The hand-ball atom- 



40 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



izer, which is usually employed, consists of two glass tubes, 
with capillary openings, placed at right angles to each other, 
the vertical tube being dipped in a bottle containing the fluid 
to be atomized, while at the other end it is close to and about 
opposite to the centre of a capillary opening in the horizontal 
tube. This connects with an elastic tube, intercepted by two 
elastic balls, one in the middle, the other, which is furnished 
with the valves, at the end of the tube. The upper ball acts 
as a reservoir, into which a current of air is forced from the 
lower ball by pressure with the hand. The air in the vertical 
glass tube being rarified, the liquid rises to the capillary open- 
ing, and is their pulverized by the current of air from the 
horizontal tube. The atomizer is used also to produce local 
anaesthesia, and as a deodorizer. 

As modified by Winterich, the spray can be readily gener- 

Fig. 2. 




ated within various parts of the body, as the back of the 
throat, nostril, meatus of the ear, &c. Instead of air, steam 
has been substituted as the forcing power in the apparatus 
known as Sieve's. In this instrument, as modified bv Da 

Fig. 3. 




Costa, inhalation can be practised without fatigue or assistance, 
and the warmth of the spray is also an advantage in many 
diseases of the respiratory organs. 

f. The g astro-intestinal mucous membrane, of all parts of 



PARTS TO WHICH MEDICINES ARE APPLIED. 41 

the body, is most employed for the exhibition of medicines. 
The stomach, from its great susceptibility, its active absorbing 
power, and the numerous relations which it has with almost 
every part of the body, is the chief recipient of medicinal 
agents. The rectum is, however, also frequently employed for 
various purposes, as to relieve disease of this or of neighbouring 
organs, to occasion revulsion, to produce alvine evacuations, to 
destroy ascarides, and when for any reason it is desirable to 
spare the stomach. 

It is usually recommended, that the dose of medicines, intro- 
duced into the rectum for constitutional effects, should be two 
or three times greater than when taken into the stomach. In 
the case of active, soluble medicines, however, especially narco- 
tics, it is most prudent to give the same amount by the rectum 
as by the mouth. 

Solid substances introduced into the rectum are termed sup- 
positories. Liquids introduced into the rectum are termed clysters, 
lavements, injections, and enemata. Soluble substances, when 
thus applied, are usually dissolved in water ; insoluble substances 
are suspended in some mucilaginous vehicle. When the enema 
is to be retained, it should be from one to four fluidrachms in 
quantity. When it is introduced to act upon the bowels, its 
bulk may be from twelve to sixteen fluidounces for an adult, six 
to eight fluidounces for a youth of twelve, three to four fluid- 
ounces for a child of one to five years, and a fluidounce for a 
newly-born infant. Various instruments are used for the 
administration of enemata, as the pipe and bladder, the ordi- 
nary syringe, the self-injecting apparatus, and the elastic bottle 
and tube. Gaseous matters have also been thrown into the 
rectum — tobacco-smoke, for example, — to relieve obstructions 
of the bowels. 

g. To the urino-genital and v agino-uter in e membranes, appli- 
cations are made exclusively for local purposes. Within a few 
years, intra-uterine medication has been a good deal employed 
in local affections of the uterus, but, in the injection of fluids 
into the uterus, there is danger of peritonitis. 

3. To Serous Membranes. Irritating solutions are injected 



42 MATERIA MEDICA. 

into the cavity of the tunica vaginalis testis, in hydrocele ; into 
the hernial sac, in hernia ; and even into the pleural cavity, in 
pleurisy, for the purpose of producing adhesion of the sides of 
the sacs. 

4. To Ulcers, Wounds, and Abscesses, medicines are applied 
chiefly for their local effects. The absorbing power of these 
surfaces is to be kept in mind in such applications. Cysts are 
sometimes cured by injections, as of iodine into cysts of the 
thyroid gland. 

5. The injection of medicines into the Veins has been occa- 
sionally practised. The operation is, however, objectionable, 
from the danger of introducing air into the circulation ; and it 
is seldom resorted to, except in the case of transfusion of blood 
after uterine hemorrhage. 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF MEDICINES. 

In treating the articles of the Materia Medica, some writers 
have classified them according to their natural properties, others 
according to their action on the human system. To the student 
of medicine, a classification based upon the sensible qualities or 
natural affinities of medicines can be of little value, since it as- 
sociates articles of the most opposite remedial properties. A 
classification of medicines founded on a similarity of action on 
the animal economy is more desirable and useful, and various 
arrangements of the Materia Medica have been attempted on 
this basis. They are all, to some extent, necessarily imperfect, 
owing partly to the diversified effects of medicines, and partly 
to our ignorance of the real nature of many of the modifications 
which they produce upon the tissues. Still, the advantages of 
some arrangement of this kind are so numerous, that it cannot 
well be dispensed with. 

The following classification will be found to include the more 
ordinary and generally received divisions of the Materia Medica, 
and to present the articles in convenient groups for therapeutic 
application. 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF MEDICINES. 



43 



Medicines may be divided into — 

r Narcotics, 
Anaesthetics, 
Antispasmodics, 

I. Those which have a special action on the nervous , Tonics, 
system., or Neurotics (from vwpov, a nerve). ' Astringents, 

Stimulants, 

Sedatives, 

Spinants. 

( Emetics, 
| Cathartics, 

II. Those which have a special action on the secre- j Diaphoretics, 
tions, or Eccritics (from ex/cpto-t?, secretion). j Diuretics, 

Blennorrheas, 
Emmenagogues. 

III. Those which modify the blood, or Heematics (from J » ,. .. ' 

a^a, the blood). 1 Ant 6 a r ^r S ' 



IV. Those which act topically. 



Irritants, 
Demulcents, 
Colouring Agents, 
Anthelmintics. 



44 MATERIA MEDICA. 

CLASS I.— NEUROTICS. 
ORDER I. — NARCOTICS. 

Narcotics, (from vapnew, to stupefy), are medicines which 
impair or destroy nervous action. The primary effect of nar- 
cotics is, however, of a stimulaut character, and their thera- 
peutic efficacy is in a great degree due to this action. They 
are often administered, too, for a true narcotic or sedative in- 
fluence on the motor, sensor, and intellectual functions. In 
diseased conditions, a marked tolerance of this class of medi- 
cines is established, and they can be exhibited in large doses 
without inducing narcosis. They are employed, chiefly, to 
remove muscular spasm, relieve pain, allay cerebral or spinal 
irritability, and procure sleep. 

When employed to relieve pain, they are termed anodynes ; 
when employed to procure sleep, hypnotics or soporifics. 

When this class of medicines is resorted to for any length of 
time, with a view to a narcotic effect, their influence upon the 
system is much diminished, and constantly increased amounts 
are called for, to maintain the same effect. 

OPIUM. 

Opium (from ottos, juice), is the concrete juice of the un- 
ripe capsules of Papaver somniferum (Nat. Ord. Papaveracese). 
The opium poppy is a native of Persia, but is cultivated in 
various parts of Asia, in Europe, and in the United States. It 
is an annual plant, with a round, leafy stem, from two to four feet 
or more in height, and large four-petaled flowers. There are 
two prominent varieties of this species : the black poppy, with 
violet-coloured or red flowers, brown or blackish seeds, and 
globular capsules ; and the white poppy, with white flowers and 
seeds, and ovate capsules; but these varieties run into each 
other under cultivation. 

The nearly ripe capsules (papaver) are from an inch and 
a half to two inches or more in diameter, and contain a good 



opium. 45 

deal of opium. They are sometimes given to children in the 
form of syrup, and are applied externally as an anodyne emol- 
lient, in the form of decoction. The seeds are destitute of 
narcotic properties, and are used in Europe as an article of 
diet, and for the manufacture of an oil. 

Opium is obtained from incisions in the half-ripe capsules. 
The juice, which exudes from the incisions, is allowed to eva- 
porate spontaneously, and is scraped off after drying, generally 
with more or less of the epidermis, and is sometimes sent into 
the market unmixed, as a choice variety. The opium of com- 
merce is, however, commonly made by adding the dried juice, 
obtained by incision, to an extract prepared from a decoction 
of the leaves, the whole being kneaded together, formed into 
cakes, and wrapped in fresh poppy leaves. 

The commerce of the United States is supplied with opium 
almost exclusively from Asiatic Turkey. This is known in the 
market as Smyrna or Turkey opium, and comes in irregularly 
rounded or flattened cakes, covered with the capsules of a 
species of Rumex. 

A large amount of opium is produced in British India, for 
consumption in India and China, but it is not found in our mar- 
kets. The Persian opium is another variety, but it does not 
reach the United States. Much opium was formerly obtained 
from Upper Egypt, in the neighborhood of Thebes, but its 
production was for a long time abandoned, though within the 
last thirty years again introduced. Successful attempts have 
been made with the cultivation of the poppy in England and 
other parts of Europe, which have resulted in the production 
of opium. During the civil war in the United States, a good 
deal of opium was made in the Southern States, from poppies 
of almost every variety ; samples of this opium have yielded 
about the same amount of morphia as that obtained from 
Turkey opium, and, even in New England, very good opium 
has lately been produced. The great source of our supply 
of opium has, however, long been, and still is, the Turkish 
dominions. 

The best opium should have a fine chestnut colour, an aro- 



46 MATERIA MBDICA. 

matic, strong, peculiar smell, and a dense consistence — becom- 
ing, however, harder and darker by being kept. It should be 
moderately ductile, break with a deeply notched fracture, and, 
when drawn across white paper, should leave an interrupted 
stain. The taste is very bitter and someAvhat acrid, and when 
chewed it excites irritation in the mouth and throat. It is in- 
flammable, and imparts its virtues to water, alcohol, and 
diluted acids — but not to ether. 

Chemical Constituents. — Opium contains a great variety of 
chemical constituents, the most important of which is the alka- 
loid Morphia, which exists chieflv in combination with an 
acid called meconie. Other principles found in opium are the 
alkaloids, narcotina, codeia, narceia, paramorphia, papaverina, 
opiania, cryptopia, meconin, thebolactic acid, porphyroxin, 
gum, extractive, resin, oil, &c, and, in very minute amounts, 
alkaloids, termed meconidia, laudamia, codamia, pseudomor- 
phia, apomorphia, lanthopia, rhoeadinia, and rhoeagenia. Mor- 
phia is the principle upon which the narcotic eifects of opium 
essentially depend, and, with its salts, is officinal in all the 
pharmacopoeias. 

Narcotina (C 46 H 25 N0 14 ) exists in opium, chiefly in the free 
state, and, being insoluble in water, is left behind when the 
drug is macerated in this menstruum. It occurs in white, 
tasteless, inodorous, needle-like crystals, which are soluble in 
ether. At one time it was thought to possess a portion of the 
narcotic properties of opium, but it is now admitted to be inert 
in this respect. Its salts have been used in India as febrifuge 
tonics, in the treatment of intermittent fevers. 

Codeia (C 35 H 20 NO 5 ) exists in opium combined like morphia 
with meconie acid, and is extracted in the process for obtaining 
the latter alkaloid, from which it may be separated by an alka- 
line solution, which dissolves the morphia and leaves the 
codeia. It has been found to possess narcotic powers, with an 
especial direction to the great sympathetic nerve, and has been 
used in gastrodynia and dyspepsia, in the dose of half a grain 
or more. It is, however, too expensive an article for general 
use. 



opium. 47 

Narceia is obtained from the mother liquid left after crys- 
tallizing out the salts of morphia. It has been asserted that it 
possesses valuable medicinal properties, but experience in the 
United States has not confirmed the statements made in 
Europe as to its efficacy. 

Paramorphia, known also as thebaia, has been lately said to 
be a tetanizing toxic agent, analogous in its effects to strychnia. 

Papaverina is said to produce some soporific action, with a 
sedative influence on the pulse ; its strength is from one-eighth 
to one-fourth of that of morphia. 

Cryptopia is thought to produce an hypnotic influence, analo- 
gous to that of morphia, though a much feebler agent. The 
action of the derivative alkaloids of opium, must, however, be 
considered as a still unsettled subject, with the exception of 
that of morphia. 

Incompatible*. — Alkalies, and astringent infusions contain- 
ing tannic acid, are incompatible with opium ; the former pre- 
cipitates morphia from its soluble combination, while the latter 
form with it an insoluble compound. Many of the mineral 
salts are also decomposed by opium, as the acetate of lead, 
(meconate of lead and acetate of morphia being formed when 
these articles are prescribed together). 

Tests. — T. of the chloride of iron strikes a red colour with 
meconic aid ; nitric acid colours morphia red ; sesquichloride of 
iron colours it dark blue ; iodic acid colours it reddish brown, 
and, if starch is added, forms a blue compound; ammonia pre- 
cipitates it from solution ; and tannic acid forms with it an 
insoluble precipitate. 

Physiological Effects. — Opium exerts a marked therapeutic 
action in the relief of pain, spasm, wakefulness, nervous irrita- 
bility, and certain forms of morbid discharge, especially from 
the alimentary canal, by a primary stimulant action, antece- 
dent to any narcotic influence. In such conditions, a toler- 
ance of its effects is established, and very large amounts may 
be taken, without inducing narcosis. Its first physiological 
action is shown in a moderate excitation of the circulation, an 
increase of the temperature of the skin, and an agreeable ex- 



48 MATERIA MEDICA. 

hilaration of the intellectual functions. This state, although 
generally termed the stage of excitement, is really one of 
incipient narcosis, and is usually of short duration. The pulse 
soon sinks below the normal standard, susceptibility to exter- 
nal impressions is diminished, the faculties of the mind become 
confused, and consciousness is finally lost in sleep. All the 
secretions are diminished, except that of perspiration, which is 
heightened; the mouth and throat become dry, with thirst; 
muscular contraction is lessei.ed; and in some persons nausea 
and vomiting are produced ; occasionally an itching and miliary 
eruption of the skin occur. 

When a poisonous dose is taken, the stage of excitement is 
wanting; giddiness and stupor rapidly come on, with diminution 
in the frequency, though not in the fulness of the pulse; and 
these symptoms are soon followed by an irresistible tendency 
to sleep, and finally by coma. The breathing is heavy and 
stertorous, the pulse slow and oppressed, and the pupils are 
contracted. If relief is not afforded, the pulse sinks, the mus- 
cular system becomes relaxed, and death ensues, preceded 
sometimes in children by violent convulsions. 

In cases of poisoning from opium or its preparations, the 
stomach should be immediately evacuated by the stomach pump, 
if possible, or by emetics. The direct emetics are best for 
this purpose, as the sulphate of zinc (20 to 30 grains), or the 
sulphate of copper (5 to 10 grains). A large teaspoonful of 
mustard-flour, or a tablespoonful of powdered alum, answers very 
well as an emetic. Every means should be taken to arouse the 
patient from his lethargy ; cold affusions, counter-irritation to 
the nape of the neck and extremities, flagellation to the palms 
of the hands and soles of the feet, and, best of all, when the 
coma is profound, the electro-magnetic battery, constitute our 
chief resources in this emergency. Artificial inflation of the 
lungs is also to be practised. The use of strong coffee has 
proved efficacious; and stimuli may be used to support the 
system. Of late years, it has been found that belladonna exer- 
cises a powerful influence as a physiological antidote against 
narcotism from opium, and the administration of this substance 



opium. 49 

by the stomach, or, still better, the hypodermic injection of a 
solution of atropia, is one of the most available remedies that 
can be employed in poisoning from opium. The poisonous 
action of opium appears to be entirely directed to the nervous 
system, no local lesions being found after death. 

Opium is largely used as an habitual narcotic in Oriental 
countries, and to some extent in Europe and the United States. 
The effects of indulgence in this species of intoxication are of 
the most destructive character upon both the physical and men- 
tal faculties. 

Medicinal Uses. — Of all the articles of the Materia Medica, 
opium enjoys the widest range of therapeutic application. 
"From its properties of assuaging pain and inducing sleep, it is 
useful in almost all diseases ; and it is positively contraindicated 
only where there is a tendency to apoplexy or coma, or where 
there exists an idiosyncrasy with respect to its effects. As an 
anodyne in painful and malignant ulcers and severe injuries, 
and in resisting surgical sJiocJc, we have no substitute for opium ; 
and, as an hypnotic in mania-a-potu, and in the wakefulness and 
cerebral irritability of fever, mania, &c, it is equally invalu- 
able. From its power of relaxing muscular spasm, it is our 
most efficient resource in tetanus, colic, and spasm of the 
stomach, bowels, biliary ducts, ureters, neck of the bladder, &c. 
In dysentery and cholera it forms the basis of every variety of 
treatment, partly for its diaphoretic effects, but principally for 
its action in arresting both the secretions and peristaltic motion 
of the bowels. For the relief of the cough of pulmonary 
affections, opium has no equal in the Materia Medica. In 
cerebro-spinal meningitis and in puerperal fever, it has been 
found more successful than any other remedy. In gastric irrit- 
ability, to check vomiting, in colica pictonum, peritonitis, rheu- 
matism, gout, neuralgia, typhus, gangrene, convulsive diseases, 
diabetes, &c, it is also constantly employed. 

Administratioyi. — The ordinary dose of opium as an anodyne 
and hypnotic is one grain. Much larger doses are, however, 
called for in many diseases; and when it is administered for a 
length of time, as a narcotic, the dose must be gradually in- 

4 



50 MATERIA MEDICA. 

creased. To infants and very old persons, it is to be given 
with great caution. 

Opium is administered in the form of powder or pills. It is 
easily powdered when thoroughly dried, and the pills, as well 
as all the other preparations of opium, should always be made 
from the powder. The powder is sometimes used endermically 
and is sprinkled on irritable ulcers. In the form of supposi- 
tories it is also applied to the rectum. 

The following are the officinal preparations of opium : 

PiLULiE Opii [Pills of Opium). Twenty-four grains of 
opium, made into twenty-four pills, with six grains of soap. 
Each pill contains a grain of opium. They are kept in the 
shops, as hard old opium pills are sometimes preferred in cases 
of irritable stomach. 

Pilula Saponis Composita [Compound Pill of Soap). 
Sixty grains of opium made into a pilular mass, with water and 
half a troyounce of soap. Useful for the administration of 
small doses. Five grains of the mass contain one grain of 
opium. 

Conpectio Opii [Confection of Opium). Opium beaten up 
with honey and spices (opium, 270 grains, aromatic powder, 6 
troyounces, and clarified honey, 14 troyounces). Dose, gr. 
xxxvj. 

Extractum Opii [Extract of Opium). Made by evaporat- 
ing the aqueous solution, (opium, 12 troyounces dissolved in 5 
pints of water). Dose, gr. J. 

Trochisci Glycyrrhpzle et Opii [Troches of Liquorice and 
Opium). Much used in Philadelphia under the name of Wis- 
tars cough lozenges. Made with extract of opium, 24 grains, 
liquorice, 2 troyounces, gum arabic, a troyounce, sugar, 3 troy- 
ounces, and oil of anise, 15 minims.' The mass is to be divided 
into 480 troches. Each troche contains one-twentieth of a 
grain of extract of opium. 

Emplastrum Opii [Opium Plaster). Made by mixing extr. 
opium, a troyounce, with 3 fluidounces of water, and evaporat- 
ing to a fluidounce and a half; and adding this to Burgundy 



OPIUM. 51 

pitch, 3 troyounces, and plaster of lead, 12 troyounces, previ- 
ously melted together. 

Suppositoria Opii {Suppositories of Opium), are made by 
incorporating extr. opium, 12 grains, with oil of theobroma, 
348 grains; each suppository, weighing 30 grains, contains 1 
grain of extr. opium. 

Suppositoeia Plumbi et Opii (Suppositories of Lead and 
Opium), contain each half a grain of extr. opium, and 3 grains 
of acetate of lead. Useful in diarrhoea and dysentery, and in 
haemorrhoids and other diseases of the rectum. 

Pulvis Ipecacuanha Compositus (Compound Powder of 
Ipecacuanha). This powder, well known under the name of 
Dover s Poivder, is made by rubbing up sixty grains of opium 
and ipecacuanha each, with a troyounceoi sulphate of potassium, 
the salt being employed to promote the minute division and 
thorough intermingling of the opium and ipecacuanha. Do- 
ver's powder is a most valuable anodyne diaphoretic, exten- 
sively prescribed in diarrhoea, dysentery, rheumatism, bronchi- 
tis, pneumonia, &c. Dose, gr. x, containing gr. j of opium 
and ipecacuanha each. 

Tinctura Opii (Tincture of Opium). Laudanum. Pre- 
pared by macerating ttvo troyounces and a half of powdered 
opium for three days in a pint of water, then adding a pint of 
alcohol, and after three days of further maceration, introduc- 
ing the whole into a percolator, and adding diluted alcohol 
until two pints of tincture are obtained. This is the most 
commonly employed of all the officinal preparations of opium. 
When long kept, particularly if exposed to the air, it becomes 
thick from evaporation of the alcohol, and its strength is much 
increased. Dose, H|xiij, or 25 drops, equivalent to a grain of 
opium. There are 120 drops in f5j. Laudanum is much used 
in the form of enema. 

Tinctuea Opii Camphoeata (Camphorated Tincture of 
Opium). Paregoric Elixir. Prepared by macerating sixty 
grains of opium in. diluted alcohol Oij, with benzoic acid, sixty 
grains, oil of anise, a fluidrachm, clarified honey, two troyounces, 
and camphor, forty grains. Dose, f§ss, or a tablespoonful, con- 



52 , MATERIA MEDICA. 

taining rather less than a grain of opium. A favorite prepara- 
tion for children. 5 to 20 drops may be given to an infant. 

Tinctura Opii Deodorata (Deodorized Tincture of Opium) 
contains the same proportion of opium as laudanum. In 
preparing it, a liquid watery extract of opium is first made, 
which is then washed with ether. The ether is afterwards 
separated, the residue dissolved in water, and mixed with 
enough alcohol to preserve it. Two troyounces and a half of 
opium are macerated with half a pint of water and expressed ; 
the operation is twice repeated with the same quantity of 
water ; the expressed liquids are mixed, and the mixture is 
evaporated to four fluidounces, and shaken, when cold, with 
half a pint of ether ; the ethereal solution, when it has sepa- 
rated by standing, is poured off, and the remaining liquid is 
evaporated, until all traces of the ether have disappeared ; this 
is mixed with twenty fluidounces of water and filtered; water 
enough is added to make the filtered liquid measure a pint and 
a half; lastly, half a pint of alcohol is added, and the liquids 
are mixed together. The narcotina as well as the odorous and 
many other injurious ingredients of opium are thus got rid 
of. A new but valuable preparation. Dose, the same as that 
of laudanum. 

Tinctura Opii Acetata (Acetated Tincture of Opium). 
Prepared by macerating two troyounces of opium, in distilled 
vinegar, f§xij, and alcohol Oss. Dose, TT[x, or 20 drops. 

Acetum Opii (Vinegar of Opium). Black Drop. Prepared 
by macerating powdered opium, five troyounces, nutmeg, a troy- 
ounce, sugar, eight troyounces, in a pint of diluted acetic acid, 
and afterwards percolating with the same menstruum, till two 
pints are obtained. Black drop is twice the strength of lauda- 
num, and is to be given in half the dose of that preparation. 

Vinum Opii (Wine of Opium). Sydenham's Laudanum. 
Prepared by macerating two troyounces of opium in Sherry 
wine, fifteen troyounces, with cinnamon and cloves, each sixty 
grains ; and afterwards adding wine enough to make a pint. 
Dose, the same as that of laudanum. 

Morphia and its Preparations. — Morphia exists in opium 



opium. 53 

chiefly in combination with meconic acid. The meconate of 
morphia is separated from the other constituents of the drug, 
by successive macerations in water. Alcohol and water of 
ammonia are then added to the watery solution, by which the 
salt is decomposed, the ammonia precipitating the morphia, and 
the alcohol seizing the colouring matter as soon as it is separated 
from the alkali. The crystals of morphia, which are formed, 
are afterwards boiled in alcohol, and the solution is filtered 
through animal charcoal. Good samples of opium, when dried, 
should yield at least ten per cent, of morphia. 

Morphia (C 34 H 19 N0 6 ) occurs in colourless rhombic crystals, 
which are inflammable and dissipated by heat. It is .without 
smell, but very bitter ; scarcely soluble in water, ether, or chloro- 
form, but soluble in boiling alcohol. From its insolubility, it 
is not employed medicinally, except in combination with acids. 

Morphia Sulphas {Sulphate of Morphia), Morphia Ace- 
tas ( Acetate of Morphia), Morphine Murias [Muriate of Mor- 
phia), are the officinal salts of morphia, made by saturating the 
alkaloid with sulphuric, acetic, and muriatic acids. The sulphate 
and muriate occur in the form of snow-white feathery crystals, 
the acetate as a white powder. They have a bitter taste; are 
all freely soluble in water and alcohol, and produce analogous 
medicinal effects, the sulphate being, however, most employed 
in this country. The salts of morphia possess the anodyne, 
hypnotic, antispasmodic, and diaphoretic properties of opium, 
and are considered less apt to produce headache and nausea, or 
other unpleasant effect. They are peculiarly adapted to the 
hypodermic and endermic methods of application. Dose, one- 
sixth to one-fourth of a grain. A Solution of the Sulphate of 
Morphia is officinal, and is much prescribed [Liquor Morphias 
Sulphatis). It contains one grain to f §j of distilled water ; 
dose, foj-ij. 

Troches of Morphia and Ipecacuanha (Trochisci Morphias et 
Ipecacuanhse), are made with sulphate of morphia, 12 grains, 
ipecacuanha, 40 grains, sugar, 10 troyounces, oil of gaultheria, 
5 minims, formed into a mass, with mucilage of tragacanth, 
which is to be divided into 480 troches ; each troche contains 



54 MATERIA MEDICA. 



Jq of a grain of sulphate of morphia. Suppositories of Morphia 
(Suppositoria Morphia?), contain, each, J of a grain of sulphate 
of morphia. 

CHLORAL. 

This interesting compound, although discovered by Liebig in 
1832, has attracted attention as a therapeutic agent, only since 
the statements of Liebrich, a physician of Prussia, published 
in May, 1869. It is prepared by passing dried chlorine gas 
through pure anhydrous alcohol, afterwards heating with con- 
centrated sulphuric acid, the crude chloral which is separated 
being rectified over lime : the chlorine takes the place of hydro- 
gen, in the alcohol, and forms also hydrochloric acid. Thus, 
C 4 H 6 2 +8C1=C 4 C1 3 0+H0 (Chorat)+5HCl. Anhydrous chlo- 
ral is a limpid, oily, colourless liquid, with a fatty taste and a 
strong caustic smell, producing lachrymation. It has a sp. gr. 
of 1.502, a boiling point of 203°F., and mixes in all propor- 
tions with water, alcohol, and ether. With water it combines 
to form a hydrate, which crystallizes in snow-white needles, 
soluble in their own weight of water ; and as pure chloral 
readily undergoes decomposition, the more stable hydrate is the 
form which is employed for medicinal use. It is incompatible 
with the alkalies. 

^Effects and Uses. — Chloral, in doses of from 20 to 40 grains, 
is a most reliable hypnotic (second only to opium in this par- 
ticular), with no influence on the secretion from the bowels, and 
a slight diuretic action. Its effect in relieving pain and spasm 
is often marked, though less constant than its hypnotic influence. 
The pulse is usually reduced in frequency under its use, and it is 
contraindicated where there is serious organic derangement of the 
heart. Generally, no unpleasant effects follow its employment, 
though occasionally slight headache and even nausea supervene. 
It is asserted that chloral is decomposed in the blood, with the 
liberation of chloroform, but this is scarcely probable, and its 
effects are certainly not identical with those of chloroform. 

Chloral has been found a very valuable hypnotic remedy in 
all the forms of insomnia, in hysterical excitement, in acute 



LACTUCABJUM. 55 

mania, and in delirium tremens. As an anodyne, in neuralgia, 
gastralgia, and colic, especially lead-colic, it has been also used 
with advantage. In delirium tremens, and many causes of in- 
somnia, frequent doses are often required to induce sleep, and 
less than 20 grains will not produce any hypnotic influence. 

Chloral is administered only in aqueous solution, and the ad- 
dition of mucilage or syrup, particularly of the syrup of 
orange-peel, will disguise its unpleasant taste. It is not well 
adapted to the hypodermic method, as painful phlegmons 
sometimes follow its use. 

LACTUCARIUM. 

Lactucarium (sometimes called lettuce-opium), is the con- 
crete juice of Lactuca sativa, the Garden Lettuce [Nat, Ord. 
Cichoracese), and is obtained from incisions in the plant, in the 
stem, during the period of inflorescence. Another and inferior 
mode of procuring it is by expression and evaporation of the 
expressed juice^ Two varieties are found in the market : Eng- 
lish lactucarium, which occurs in small, irregular lumps, of a 
reddish-brown colour externally, and of an opiate smell, and a 
bitter, unpleasant taste, and German lactucarium (which is 
inferior), in four-sided pieces, from an inch to an inch and a 
half thick, with one side convex and the three other sides flat, 
the convex surface darkish-brown, and the flat surfaces light 
yellowish-brown. An active principle termed lactucin is said 
to have been isolated. Lactucarium, prepared from the juice 
of the Lactuca elongata, American or wild lettuce, has been 
found to possess effects similar to those of the officinal article. 

Effects and Uses. — Lactucarium possesses the anodyne and 
hypnotic qnalities of opium with a slight sedative action on the 
circulation, but it is an uncertain preparation. It may be given 
where opium disagrees, from idiosyncrasy in the patient. 
Dose, gr. x. The syrup is the most eligible form of adminis- 
tration. It is made by rubbing a troyounce of lactucarium 
with sufficient diluted alcohol, to bring it to a syrupy consist- 
ence, then percolating with diluted alcohol till half a pint of 



56 MATERIA MEDIC A. 

tincture has passed, afterwards evaporating to- two fluidounces, 
and finally mixing the tincture with fourteen fluidounces of 
syrup. Dose, two or three fluidrachms. 



BELLADONNA. 

Belladonnas Folia, Belladonna Leaves ; Belladonnas Radix, Belladonna Root. 

Atropa Belladonna, or Deadly Nightshade {Nat. Ord. So- 
lanacese), is a European perennial plant, with herbaceous, 
branched, downy stems, about three or four feet high, large 
ovate leaves, of a dull-green colour, and drooping, bell-shaped, 
purple flowers. The whole plant possesses narcotic properties, 
but the leaves and root only are officinal. When fresh, the 
leaves have an unpleasant smell, and a sweetish, subacrid, 
slightly nauseous taste. When dried they retain this taste, but 
have scarcely any odour. The root should be obtained from 
plants more than two years old ; the dried root is long, round, 
from one to several inches in thickness, branched, of a red- 
dish-brown colour, of little odour, and a feeble, sweetish taste. 

The narcotic properties of belladonna depend on the pres- 
ence of an alkaloid termed atropia, w T hich is found in all parts 
of the plant. It is officinal, and is prepared from the root, by 
exhaustion with alcohol, afterwards adding sulphuric acid, pre- 
cipitating with potassa, dissolving the atropia in chloroform, 
and then evaporating the chloroform. Atropia (C 34 H 23 N0 6 ) oc- 
curs in the form of yellowish-white, silky, prismatic crystals, 
without smell, but of a bitter, acrid taste, soluble in alcohol, more 
so in ether, still more so in chloroform, but only partially 
soluble in water. It is a most energetic poison, producing 
analogous effects to those of belladonna, but much more power- 
ful. Latterly, atropia has been a good deal employed medi- 
cinally as a substitute for belladonna, on account of its greater 
certainty. The dose to begin with for internal use is about 
one-thirtieth of a grain in solution. As a collyrium, to dilate 
the pupil, a solution of a grain in four fluidrachms of water, 
with a few T drops of acetic acid, may be employed, and a drop 



BELLADONNA. 57 

of the solution applied to the eye. A tincture (atropia gr. j, 
diluted alcohol f 5ss) is used for the same purpose — dose, for 
internal use, 8 drops. The sulphate of atropia is also offici- 
nal ; it is made by adding a mixture of sulphuric acid and al- 
cohol to an ethereal solution of atropia, and is deposited in the 
form of a white, slightly crystalline powder, very soluble in 
in water and alcohol, but insoluble in ether — dose the same as 
that of atropia. 

Physiological Effects of Belladonna. — In small doses the effects 
of belladonna are those of an anodyne stimulant, with little or 
no action on the circulation, or on any of the secretions, except 
a peculiar dryness of the mouth and throat. In larger doses it 
causes dilatation of the pupils, loss of vision, giddiness, constric- 
tion of the throat, difficulty of deglutition and articulation, 
marked diuresis, nausea, with occasional vomiting and purging, 
and sometimes a red eruption. When excessive doses are taken, 
these symptoms are aggravated, and terminate in maniacal 
delirium, coma, syncope, and death, often preceded by convul- 
sions. Dissections show that the action of the poison is not 
confined to the cerebro-spinal system, but that it is attended by 
inflammation of the digestive organs. Cases of poisoning from 
belladonna are to be treated by evacuation of the stomach, 
cathartics, and, if coma occurs, by the electro-magnetic battery. 
Opium may be given as a physiological antidote, or hypoder- 
mic injections of solutions of the salts of morphia may be 
administered. As atropia and its salts are decomposed and 
rendered inert by prolonged contact with caustic potassa, the 
solutions of potassa and soda are recommended as antidotes for 
belladonna, and are to be considered also as medicinally incom- 
patible with it ; lime-water is said to have the same action. 
Applied to the eyebrow, belladonna causes dilatation of the pupil. 
Medicinal Uses. — Belladonna is one of our most highly- 
esteemed anodyne and antispasmodic remedies. It is destitute 
of hypnotic effect, and, on the contrary, has a tendency to 
occasion wakefulness. In the treatment of neuralgia it ranks 
at the head of the narcotics, and is extensively employed both 
alone and in combination with the sulphate of quinia. It 



58 MATEKIA MEDICA. 

should be given until dryness of the throat, dilatation of the 
pupil, and some disorder of vision are produced. Its powers of 
allaying spasm have been found very efficacious in the treat- 
ment of whooping-cough and asthma. As a discutient of can- 
cerous indurations, it has enjoyed some reputation, but any 
good effects in these cases, have probably been owing to an 
anodyne and not a resolvent influence. In mania, and many 
diseases of the cerebro-spinal system, especially epilepsy, it has 
been occasionally employed with advantage. Its action on the 
kidneys renders it useful in chronic Bright's disease ; and by 
its influence in relieving irritability of the bladder, it is proba- 
bly the best remedy for the nocturnal incontinence of urine of 
children. In constipation, iritis, and as a prophylactic against 
scarlatina, it is also resorted to. As a preventive of scarlatina, 
it was originally proposed from its power of affecting the throat 
and skin, and respectable authority is not wanting in confirma- 
tion of its efficacy in this particular. It is used too, in cases 
of poisoning by opium. 

As a topical remedy, belladonna is employed principally to 
produce dilatation of the pupil in operations for cataract, iritis, 
and prolapsus iridis. It is applied in the form of extract or 
ointment to the eyebrows, temple, or conjunctiva, and produces 
dilatation in a few minutes. The topical application of bella- 
donna is also resorted to with advantage to relieve rigidity of 
the os uteri in labour. 

Administration. — The dose of the poivder of the root or 
leaves is gr. j, to be repeated and increased till dryness of the 
throat, dilatation of the pupil, and dimness of vision are pro- 
duced. It is most frequently exhibited in the form of extract 
(or inspissated juice) of the fresh leaves. Dose, \ to J a grain, 
to be repeated and increased. The tincture (four troyounces of 
the leaves to diluted alcohol Oij — dose, 15 to 30 drops) and the 
alcoholic extract are also officinal. The fluid extract of "bella- 
donna root contains a troyounce of root in a fluidounce of extract 
— dose, 2 to 5 drops. Suppositories of belladonna (made with 
alcoholic extract of belladonna, ] part, and oil of theobroma 59 
parts), contain each half a grain of extract. For external use, 



STRAMONIUM. 



59 



a plaster (JEmplastrum Belladonna;), made by adding melted 
resin plaster to an alcoholic extract of belladonna root, and an 
ointment (TJnguentum Belladonnas), made by rubbing sixty 
grains of the extract first with water half a fluidrachm, and 
then with lard, a troy ounce, are employed. 



STRAMONIUM. 

Stramonii Folia, Stramonium Leaves ; Stramonii Semen, Stramonium Seed. 

Fie:. 4. 




Datura Stramonium, or Thorn Apple, sometimes called 
Jamestown weed (Nat. Orel. Solanaceae), is an annual indige- 
nous plant, which grows very abundantly in waste grounds in all 
parts of the world. It has a forked, branching stem, from 
three to six feet high, ovate, toothed leaves, large funnel-shaped 
white or purplish flowers, which appear in midsummer, and 
ovate capsules, filled with numerous kidney-shaped, brownish- 
black seeds. The odour of the plant is strong and disagreeable, 
and its taste bitter and nauseous. It loses these properties 
very much when dried, but the process does not appear to 
weaken its narcotic qualities. The leaves and seeds are 
officinal, but the seeds are most powerful from containing most 
daturia. 



60 MATERIA MEDICA. 

The active principle of Stramonium is an alkaloid termed 
daturia, which possesses properties analogous to those of 
atropia. 

The physiological effects of stramonium are closely allied to 
those of belladonna, with a more marked action on the secre- 
tions. From its common occurrence in every part of the 
country, cases of poisoning from this weed are very frequent, 
particularly with children, who are fond of swallowing the 
seeds. The treatment laid down for the relief of poisoning 
from belladonna is applicable to these cases. 

The medicinal uses of stramonium are similar to those of 
belladonna. It is prescribed internally in neuralgia, whooping- 
cough, mania, and epilepsy ; and in spasmodic asthma the 
leaves have been smoked with great relief. The practice is, 
however, dangerous in aged or apoplectic persons. Topically, 
stramonium is used by oculists to dilate the pupils and diminish 
the sensibility of the retina to light; and it is an excellent 
anodyne application, in the form of cataplasm and ointment, to 
inflammatory tumours, irritable ulcers, bed sores, and hemor- 
rhoids. 

Administration.— -The dose of the powdered leaves is gr. ij ; 
of the seeds, a grain, to be repeated and gradually increased 
till narcotic effects are produced. Dose of the extract of the 
leaves, gr. j, to commence with ; of the extract of the seed, gr. J. 
The tincture [four troyounces of the seeds to diluted alcohol 
Oij, dose 20 to 40 drops), and the ointment made by mixing the 
extract of the leaves with lard (according to the formula for 
ointment of belladonna), are also officinal. 



HYOSCYAMUS. 
Hyoscyami Folia, Hyoscyamus Leaves; Hyoscyami Semen, Hyoscyanms Seed. 

Hyoscyamus niger, or Henbane (Nat. Ord. Solanacese), is a 
native of Europe, and is naturalized in the northern parts of 
the United States. It grows to the height of about two feet, 
with large, sinuated, pale-green leaves, and flowers of a straw- 



HENBANE. 



61 



yellow colour. The whole plant has narcotic properties; but the 
leaves and seeds only are officinal. Henbane should be 
gathered when in flower; and, when fresh, has a strong, offen- 



Fiar. 3. 




sive narcotic odour, and a mucilaginous, unpleasant, slightly 
acrid taste ; but it loses most of these qualities in drying. 
The seeds are of a yellowish-gray colour, with something of the 
odour of the plant, and have an oleaginous, bitter taste. The 
active properties of the plant depend upon a peculiar alkaloid 
principle, termed hyoscyamia, nearly identical in its action 
with atropia, but more soluble in water. 

Effects and Uses. — The effects of henbane on the system 
much resemble those of belladonna. They differ from those of 
opium in their comparatively feeble hypnotic effect, and in their 
relaxing influence on the bowels. In large doses it causes dila- 
tation of the pupil, delirium, loss of vision, &c. In cases of 



62 MATERIA MEDICA. 

poisoning, the same treatment is to be pursued as for bella- 
donna and stramonium. Henbane may be used remedially, in 
the same diseases, as belladonna and stramonium, than which it 
is, however, less active. It has been administered also, from 
the earliest days, to palliate cough, where opium is objectionable 
from its constipating or nauseating influence. Externally, it 
is employed in the form of cataplasm or fomentation to painful 
swellings and ulcers ; and it may be used to dilate the pupil, in 
the same manner as belladonna. 

Dose of the powdered leaves, gr. v to gr. x ; of the seeds, 
somewhat less. The extract (an inspissated juice of the leaves) 
is the preferable form of administration ; it is of a dark olive 
colour, and extremely variable quality. Dose, gr. v to gr. x. 
Tincture (four troy ounces to diluted alcohol Oij), dose f5j. An 
alcoholic extract and a fluid extract (dose 10-20 drops), are also 
officinal. 



TABACU M — T OBACCO. 

Nicotiana Tabacum, or Virginia tobacco (Wat. Ord. Sola- 
naceae), is a native of the warm countries of America, but is 
now extensively cultivated in most parts of the world. It is 
an annual plant, growing to the height of from three to six feet, 
with large, oblong, pointed, hairy, pale-green leaves, and light- 
greenish, funnel-shaped flowers, expanding above into rose- 
coloured segments. The dried leaves are the portion used. 
They have a yellowish-brown colour, a strong, peculiar, narcotic 
odour, and a bitter, nauseous taste. The darker-coloured 
leaves are the strongest. 

The virtues of tobacco are imparted to alcohol and water, 
and depend on the presence of an alkaloid called nicotia 
(C 10 H 17 N), which is found in all parts of the plant. It is a 
colourless, oily, volatilizable, alkaline liquid, highly soluble in 
water, alcohol, ether, and chloroform, of a feeble odour, when 
cold, but irritant, when heated, of an acrid, burning taste, and 
is a most energetic poison. From the dried leaves are also ob- 
tained a concrete volatile oil, termed nieotianin, which is proba- 



TOBACCO. 63 

bly the odorous principle of the plant, and an empyreumatic 
oil, which gives the peculiar smell to old tobacco pipes. Both 
of these principles are poisonous ; the oil (oleum, tabaci) is offi- 
cinal. 

Physiological Effects. — On persons unaccustomed to its use, 
tobacco, in small doses, produces a slight sedative action, with 
nausea, swimming in the head, increased flow from the kidneys, 
and sometimes, also, from the bowels. In larger doses, it in- 
duces vomiting and purging, a sensation of sinking at the pit 
of the stomach, giddiness, disorder of vision, the pupils, how- 
ever, being little affected, depression of the circulation, great 
relaxation of the muscular system, coldness of the surface, 
and other symptoms of prostration ; and, when excessive doses 
have been taken, these symptoms become more violent, and 
are followed by convulsions, paralysis, coma, and death. Cases 
of poisoning are to be treated on the principles applicable to 
other cases of narcotic poisoning ; the diffusible stimuli are to 
be freely given. 

The habitual use of tobacco as an exhilarant is well known. 
When taken to excess, it frequently develops disorders of the 
stomach, heart, and nervous system. 

Medicinal Uses. — Tobacco is employed in medicine, chiefly 
with a view to its action on the muscular system — its anodyne 
and hypnotic properties being relatively feeble. In various 
spasmodic diseases, particularly in colic, ileus, strangulated 
hernia, constipation from spasmodic constriction, tetanus, spasm 
of the neck of the bladder and the glottis, and asthma, it is a 
remedy of great value. It has been also successfully applied to the 
treatment of poisoning by strychnia. Internally, tobacco is to 
be employed with caution, as it occasionally acts with danger- 
ous energy. Stupes of an infusion of tobacco (half an ounce 
to a pint of water), have been found an efficacious application 
to wounds, in cases of traumatic tetanus. 

Administration. — Tobacco is not given by the stomach, 
owing to its emetic properties. It is usually administered by the 
rectum., in the form of infusion (5j — Qj of boiling water, one- 
third to be given a| a dose), or tobacco-smoke may be introduced 



64 MATERIA MEDICA. 

into the rectum. It may also be smoked for medicinal effect, 
or applied locally in the form of cataplasm. Ointment of To- 
bacco ( Unguentum Tabaci,) is made by mixing a watery extract, 
prepared from half a troyounce of finely powdered tobacco, with 
eight troyounces of lard; it is a useful application to indolent 
ulcers and some cutaneous affections, particularly tinea capitis. 
The Wine of Tobacco ( Vinum Tabaci) is made by macerating 
a troyounce of tobacco in a pint of Sherry wine for seven days ; 
it is occasionally used as a diuretic — dose 20-30 drops. The 
Oil is sometimes mixed with ointments. 



LOBELIA. 

Lobelia inflata, or Indian tobacco (Nat. Ord. Lobeliacese,) is 
a very common annual or biennial indigenous plant, growing to 
the height of from six inches to two feet, with a fibrous root, 
an erect, hairy stem, ovate, serrated leaves, pale-blue flowers, 
and ovoid, inflated capsules. It flowers from July till the 
appearance of frost, and should be gathered about August and 
September. All parts of it are active, but the leaves and 
TOPS only are officinal. It has an unpleasant smell, and, when 
chewed, an acrid, burning, nauseous taste, which is at first faint, 
but soon becomes excessive. Water and alcohol extract the 
virtues of lobelia, which contain a volatile alkaloid principle, 
lobelina, analogous to nicotia. 

Physiological Effects. — Lobelia produces effects on the sys- 
tem analogous to those of tobacco, acting in small doses as a 
sedative, nauseant, diuretic, and diaphoretic ; in larger doses 
as an energetic emetic ; and in still larger doses as an active 
acro-narcotic poison, resembling tobacco in its influence. It 
was employed by the aborigines, and has always been a popular 
empirical remedy. 

Medicinal Uses. — Lobelia is sometimes classed among emet- 
ics, but its action in this particular is too violent for its safe 
administration. It is chiefly employed, by regular practition- 
ers, with a view to its antispasmodic properties, for the relief 
of asthma, angina pectoris, and cardiac dyspnoea, and is given 



LOBELIA. 



65 



in small doses, gradually increased, until headache or nausea 
ensue. It may also be used as an enema, to fulfil the same 
indications as tobacco. 



Fig. 6. 




Administration. — Lobelia is given in substance, tincture, and 
infusion. The dose of the powder as an antispasmodic, is gr. 
j to gr. iij ; as an emetic, gr. v to gr. xx. The best form, par- 
ticularly in asthma, is the tincture (four troyounces to diluted 
alcohol Oij), which may be given in the quantity of f5j\ to be 
repeated as occasion may require. 

5 



66 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



Acetum Lobelia (Vinegar of Lobelia), made with diluted 
acetic acid, is a good preparation, in which the alkaloid is fixed 
by the acetic acid; it is of the same strength, and may be 
given in the same doses as the tincture. 



CONIUM. 

Conii Folia, Conium Leaves ; Conii Fructus, Conium Seed. 

Conium maculatum, or Hemlock (Nat. Ord. Apiaceee), is a 
biennial European plant, naturalized in many parts of the 
United States. Its stem is erect, from three to five feet high, 

Fig. 1. 




round, smooth, and often spotted with purple. The leaves are 
large, bright-green, and repeatedly compound; the flowers are 
small, white, and arranged in umbels, appearing in June and 
July. The whole plant is narcotic and virulent, and has a 
fetid, heavy odour. The leaves and seed are the only por- 
tions used. The leaves should be gathered when the plant has 
done flowering, and kept in vessels from which the air and light 



CONIUM. 67 

are excluded. Plants grown in sunny situations and warm 
climates are most active. When well preserved, the dried leaves 
have a fine green colour, and the characteristic smell and bitterish 
taste of the fresh herb, though less powerfully. The seeds should 
be gathered while yet green, and carefully dried. They have a 
yellowish gray colour, a feeble odour, and a bitterish taste ; 
they are roundish ovate, a line and a half in length by a line 
in breadth. 

The active principle of hemlock is a peculiar alkaloid, termed 
conia (C 16 H 15 N), which exists in larger proportion in the seeds 
than the leaves. It is a colourless, oily fluid, sparingly soluble 
in water, and freely so in alcohol and ether ; and is a highly 
energetic poison, even in very small doses. 

Physiological Effects. — The action of hemlock in small medi- 
cinal doses is considered to be alterative and even tonic. Re- 
solvent properties, in cases of glandular enlargement, have been 
attributed to it, and atropy of the mammas and testicles is said 
to have resulted from its continued employment. It is usually 
classed with the sedative narcotics, paralyzing the nerves of 
motion rather than those of sensation. In large doses, it causes 
nausea, vertigo, dimness of vision, relaxation of the muscles ; 
and in poisonous quantities, dilatation of the pupils, difficulty 
of speech, delirium or coma, paralysis, and finally convulsions 
and death. It has no direct hypnotic effect. In cases of poison- 
ing, alcoholic stimuli are to be given. 

Medicinal Uses. — It is employed chiefly as a general and 
topical anodyne, to relieve the pain of malignant tumours ; and, 
even if destitute of the cleobstruent powers which have been 
ascribed to it, it certainly exerts a remarkably palliative influence 
upon painful chronic indurations. It has been also recom- 
mended as an antispasmodic in whooping-cough and asthma ; 
as an anodyne in neuralgia ; as an adjuvant to other remedies 
in mania, especially melancholia ; to relieve irritability of the 
sexual organs ; in diabetes ; and it is used externally as a cata- 
plasm to cancers and other irritable ulcers. Conium is the 
cicuta of Hippocrates, Galen, and Pliny, and is supposed to 
have been the poison administered to Socrates and Phocion. 



68 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Administration. — The dose of the powdered leaves is gr. iij to 
gr. iv, twice a day, to be rapidly increased, till vertigo or nausea 
ensue. The seeds are much stronger and more uniform in their 
effects than the leaves. Dose, half a grain to a grain. The ex- 
tract (inspissated juice of the leaves) may be given in the same 
doses; it is an uncertain preparation, and should be rejected 
unless it have a strong and penetrating odour. A tincture (four 
troyounces to diluted alcohol Oij, dose f5ss, f 5j)> an alcoholic 
extract, and a fluid extract are also used ; of the fluid extract 
(a fluidounce of which contains a troyounce of the seeds), the 
dose is four or five minims. All the preparations made from 
the dried leaves are, however, comparatively feeble, and the 
best form in which to prescribe conium is the Succus Conii, 
(Juice of Conium) (which is prepared by adding one measure of 
alcohol to five measures of the recently expressed juice of the 
fresh plant), dose f5i-ij. 



A C O N I T U M — A C N I T E . 
Aconiti Folia, Aconite Leaves ; Aconiti Radix, Aconite Eoot. 

Aconitum Napellus, Aconite, Wolfsbane, or Monkshood (Nat. 
Ord. Ranunculacese,) is a native of the mountainous parts of 
Europe. It is a perennial, herbaceous plant, with a fusiform 
root, a simple erect stem, growing usually to the height of from 
two to four feet, palmate, deeply cleft leaves, and large, dark, 
violet-blue flowers. The leaves and root are both used, but 
the root is the more powerful. They have little or no smell ; 
but their taste is bitterish and acrid, and when chewed they oc- 
casion a peculiar feeling of tingling and numbness in the tongue 
and interior of the mouth. These properties are impaired by 
long keeping, and the plant loses its medicinal efficacy. Other 
species of aconite possess similar poisonous qualities to those of 
the A. Napellus. The active principle of aconite is an alkaloid 
named aconitia, which is officinal. 

Physiological Effects. — Taken in small doses, aconite pro- 
duces a sensation of numbness in the head, face, and extremi- 



ACONITE. 69 

ties, with a sedative action on the circulation, and more or less 
nausea and muscular debility. In larger doses, its effects are 
those of an acro-narcotic poison ; gastric irritation, purging, 
contraction or expansion of the pupils, numbness or paralysis 
of the limbs, syncope, convulsions, and death. In case of poi- 
soning, the stomach is to be thoroughly evacuated, and stimu- 
lants, externally and internally, are to be freely administered. 

Medicinal Uses. — Aconite is a powerful and valuable remedy, 
in the treatment of neuralgia, chronic rheumatism, gout, and 
other painful diseases, as might be inferred from its benumbing 
effects on the system. From its influence on the circulation, it 
is employed to reduce inflammatory action, and as a remedy in 
hypertrophy and other cases of irregular or excessive action of 
the heart. In controlling abnormal cardiac action, aconite is 
perhaps the most available article we possess. As a topical 
anodyne, in neuralgia, it has no superior. 

Administration. — The dose of the poivdered leaves is gr. j to 
gr. ij ; of the alcoholic extract of the dried leaves, gr. J- to gr. 
j ; of the tincture of the root, which is by far the best prepara- 
tion (twelve troyounces to alcohol Oij), 5 to 10 drops. These 
doses are to be repeated twice or thrice daily, and cautiously 
increased,' till the effects of the medicine are apparent. The 
tincture may be used externally ; but for external application, 
the liniment (linimentum aconiti), which contains 8 troyounces 
of the powdered root in 7 fluidounces of alcohol and a fluid- 
ounce of glycerin, or the plaster {emplastrum aconiti), made by 
mixing 16 troyounces of alcoholic extract of aconite root with 
melted resin plaster enough to make the mixture weigh ]6 troy- 
ounces, are to be preferred. 

Aconitia (C 60 H 4r NO u ) is prepared from an aqueous solution 
of an alcoholic extract of aconite root, by the addition of sul- 
phuric acid (which converts the natural salt of aconitia into a 
sulphate) ; it is then freed from its oily and resinous portions 
by means of ether ; the alkaloid is subsequently precipitated 
with ammonia, then redissolved by ether, and again separated 
from this menstruum by evaporation. It is a white amorphous 
powder, with a tinge of yellow, without smell, of a bitter acrid 



70 MATERIA MEDICA. 

taste, and produces in the mouth a sense of numbness. It is 
partially soluble in water, and is readily dissolved by alcohol, 
ether, and chloroform. It colours concentrated hot phosphoric 
acid purple, and its watery solution gives a voluminous amor- 
phous precipitate with the iodo-hydrargyrate of potassium. 

Aconitia is an exceedingly virulent poison, more powerful 
when pure than hydrocyanic acid. It is scarcely adapted to 
internal use, as even one-fiftieth of a grain has produced 
alarming results. As a topical agent in neuralgia and rheu- 
matism, it has been employed with great success, in alcoholic 
solution (gr. i-ij to f 5j)> or as an ointment (gr. ij to lard 5j\ 
rubbed up with alcohol gtt. vj). 

CANNABIS AMERICANA — AMERICAN HEMP, 
CANNABIS INDICA — INDIAN HEMP. 

Cannabis sativa, or Hemp [Nat. Ord. Cannabinaceae) is a 
native of Persia and the northern parts of India, and is culti- 
vated in Europe, and in the United States. Narcotic virtues 
were formerly thought to exist only in the Cannabis Indica or 
Indian variety of the plant, but recent investigation seems to 
show that the hemp plants, raised in the Southern States, as 
Kentucky, are active, and might replace the East Indian drug. 

The flowering tops of both varieties are officinal. By 
evaporating concentrated alcoholic solutions of these, Extracts 
are obtained, (extraction cannabis Americana? and extractum 
cannabis Indica?), which are the forms usually employed. 
Extract of hemp is of a dark, olive-green colour, a fragrant nar- 
cotic odour, and a bitter, acrid taste. It is soluble in alcohol 
and ether, but not in water. The resin, which is the active 
principle, has received the name of cannabin. 

Effects and Uses. — The medicinal properties of Extract of 
Cannabis are narcotic and antispasmodic, and in India both the 
herb and resin are extensively used as intoxicating exhilarants, 
under the name of Jiaschisch. In large doses it is sedative, 
producing relaxation of the muscles, heavy sleep, and abate- 
ment of pain, without much affecting the secretions ; but 



HOPS. 71 

opinions are by no means settled in the United States and 
Great Britain as to its effects. It has been chiefly extolled as 
an antispasmodic in traumatic tetanus, and has been employed 
with success in other spasmodic diseases, chorea, hysteria, &c, 
to relieve cerebral irritability in diabetes, and as an anodyne 
in rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, &c. It has also been given 
with advantage as an hypnotic both in mania and in mania-a- 
potu ; and its powers of exciting uterine contractions, and of 
checking uterine hemorrhagic discharges, are highly spoken of. 
Dose, from half a grain to two or more grains. The tincture 
is made by dissolving three hundred and sixty grains of the 
extract of Indian hemp in a pint of alcohol ; forty drops of this 
are about equal to a grain of the extract. 

HUMULUS — HOPS. 

Hops are the strobiles of Humulus lupulus, or Hop-vine 
[Nat. Ord. Urticacese), a climbing vine, indigenous in Europe, 
and probably also in North America, with serrated, rough 
leaves, and greenish-yellow flowers. The medicinal portion is 
the fruit, or strobiles, which are also largely employed in the 
preparation of malt liquors, and are known as hops. They 
consist of thin, somewhat translucent, veined, leaf-like bracts or 
scales, of a greenish-yellow colour, a strong, fragrant, narcotic 
odour, and a bitter, aromatic, slightly astringent taste. Near 
their base are two small, round, dark seeds, covered with aro- 
matic glands or grains, which are the active portion of the 
hops, and are termed lupulin. They are separated by thresh- 
ing, rubbing, and sifting the scales, and constitute about a 
sixth part of the weight of hops. 

Lupulin {lupulina) is officinal, and consists of rounded or 
reniform, rather transparent grains, of a cellular texture, and 
a golden-yellow colour. It is slightly soluble in water, and com- 
pletely so in alcohol, and is composed of a volatile oil, a bitter 
principle termed lupulite, resin, tannic acid, and other matters. 
The scaly bracts contain a small portion of lupulinic matter. 

Effects and Uses. — Hops are narcotic and tonic. The nar- 
cotic properties probably reside in the volatile oil, and the 



72 MATERIA MEDICA. 

tonic properties in the bitter principle. They are said, also, 
to possess antaphrodisiac properties, and sometimes prove 
diuretic. The odorous emanation is employed as an hypnotic 
by means of the hop-pillow. Internally, they are given to re- 
lieve restlessness, induce sleep, and allay pain, and are also 
much employed for their stomachic and tonic effect. The com- 
bination of tonic and narcotic virtues renders hops an excellent 
remedy in mild forms of mania-a-potu. Topically, they are 
employed in the form of fomentation or poultice, as a resolvent 
or discutient, in painful swellings and tumours. 

Administration. — Hops are given in the form of infusion 
(half a troyounce to boiling water Oj), and tincture (five troy- 
ounces to diluted alcohol Oij), dose f5j to f5ii> 

The best preparation for internal use is Lupulin, in the dose 
of gr. v to gr. xij, in powder or pills. The tincture of lupulin 
(four troyounces to alcohol Oij) may be given in the dose of 
f5j to fSij- The fluid extract is a concentrated tincture, con- 
taining the virtues of an ounce of lupulin in a fluid-ounce. 
The oleoresin also is officinal — dose, gr. ij to v. 

DULCAMARA — BITTERSWEET. 

The YOUNG branches of Solanum Dulcamara, the Woody 
Nightshade, or Bittersweet (Nat. Ord. Solanaceae), a European 
vine, naturalized in the United States, possess combined nar- 
cotic and diaphoretic properties. They are of a greenish-gray 
colour, about the thickness of a quill, and have, when fresh, an 
unpleasant odour, which they lose by drying. Their taste is 
at first bitter, afterwards slightly acrid and sweet. The active 
principle is a poisonous alkaloid termed so!a?iia, which has been 
found also in Solanum tuberosum, or common potato, and S. 
nigrum, or black nightshade. 

Effects and Uses. — In small doses, the most obvious effects 
of Bittersweet are an increase in the secretions from the skin and 
mucous surfaces, with some diminution of sensibility. In ex- 
cessive doses it is an acro-narcotic poison. It is principally 
used in the form of decoction (a troyounce boiled in a pint of 



DILUTED HYDROCYANIC ACID, 73 

water for fifteen minutes, and water enough afterwards added 
to make the decoction measure a pint),* in painful cutaneous 
affections, and also in chronic catarrh, rheumatism, and gout. 
An extract {alcoholic), (dose, ten to twenty grains,) and fluid 
extract (of which a fluidounce represents a troyounce of the 
stalks), are both officinal. 

ACIDUM HYDROCYANICUM DILUTUM — DILUTED HY- 
DROCYANIC ACID. 

Hydrocyanic acid, known also as cyanhydric acid, undprussic 
acid, is found in a variety of vegetable substances, as the bitter 
almond, peach kernels and leaves, wild cherry, cherry laurel, 
&c. It is employed in medicine only in a state of extreme 
dilution ; and the diluted acid is obtained by the action of sul- 
phuric acid and water on the ferrocyanide of potassium, or, 
when wanted for immediate use, by the action of muriatic acid 
and water on cyanide of silver. 

Diluted hydrocyanic acid is a colourless, volatile liquid, with 
a peculiar odour, and a cooling, somewhat irritating taste. It 
undergoes decomposition if exposed to the light, and should be 
kept in bottles covered with black paint or paper. It contains 
two per cent, of the anhydrous or concentrated acid. 

The anhydrous acid (HCy, or HNC 2 ) is a colourless, trans- 
parent, very volatile and decomposable liquid, with a powerful, 
peculiar odour, and a cooling, afterwards burning taste. Both 
water and alcohol dissolve it readily. It consists of one eq. of 
cyanogen and one of hydrogen. Its presence in a suspected 
mixture may be detected by the addition of a solution of nitrate 
of silver, which throws down a white, curdy precipitate of 
cyanide of silver, distinguishable by its exhaling the peculiar 
odour of prussic acid on the addition of muriatic acid, and by 
being wholly soluble in boiling nitric acid ; or (the best test) 
the hydrocyanic acid may be converted into hydrosulphocyanate 

*This is the usual formula for the decoctions, and is the mode of prepa- 
ration of all those which are stated to be of the strength of an ounce to a 
pint of water. 



74 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of ammonium by the addition of bihydrosulphate of ammonium, 
and the salt thus formed yields a deep blood-red colour upon 
the addition of a sesquioxide salt of iron. 

Physiological Effects. — When taken in medicinal doses, 
gradually increased, hydrocyanic acid occasions a bitter taste, 
increased flow of saliva, irritation in the throat, nausea, head- 
ache, giddiness, faintness, disorder of the vision, and tendency 
to sleep. The pulse is sometimes accelerated, but more com- 
monly depressed. In a poisonous dose, hydrocyanic acid 
arrests life with fearful rapidity, and is one of the most ener- 
getic poisons known, one or two drops of the pure acid being 
sufficient to destroy a dog in a few seconds. When not imme- 
diately fatal, it produces great and sudden prostration, trismus, 
difficult and spasmodic respiration, dilatation and immobility 
and sometimes contraction of the pupils, convulsions, &c. The 
best antidotes are chlorine, and a mixture of sulphate of iron 
(gr. x to water f5j), tincture of chloride of iron (f 5j), and car- 
bonate of potassium (3j), in water (f oj or ij) ; inhalations of 
ammonia or its carbonate, and (if the patient can swallow), al- 
coholic stimuli are to be employed, and at the same time cold 
affusions and artificial respiration are to be also resorted to. 
The subcutaneous injection of the sulphate of atropia has been 
also found available, acting as a physiological antidote. 

Medicinal Uses. — Hydrocyanic acid is a valuable agent in 
allaying spasm, pain, and nervous irritability, in a variety of 
disorders, and is much used to relieve cough, particularly in 
phthisis pulmonalis, and for its antispasmodic virtues in asthma 
and whooping-cough. It is, moreover, a most efficacious remedy 
in gastrodynia, and in neuralgic affections of the bowels, and 
also in chronic vomiting. Topically, it is employed as an ano- 
dyne in neuralgia, and in various forms of cutaneous diseases 
(f5j to water Oj-Ojss). 

Dose of the officinal acid, one or two drops, to be repeated 
and gradually increased by a drop, till some effect is perceptible. 
When it is taken for a length of time, care should be observed 
to have the medicine, as renewed, of uniform strength ; and it 
is best, in using a fresh sample, to return to the minrmum dose. 



SYRUP OF ALMOND. 75 

Potassii Cyanidum {Cyanide of Potassium), (KCy) is 
used as a substitute for hydrocyanic acid, and has the advan- 
tage of beiug a more uniform chemical product, and less liable 
to undergo decomposition. It is made by heating together 
ferrocyanide of potassium and carbonate of potassium, and 
occurs in white, opaque, amorphous pieces, having a sharp, 
somewhat alkaline and bitter-almond taste, and an alkaline re- 
action ; its solution yields the odour of hydrocyanic acid, when 
exposed to the air. It is deliquescent, very soluble in water, 
and sparingly so in alcohol. Its medicinal and poisonous 
effects are the same as those of hydrocyanic acid. Dose, gr. J- 
in half an ounce of distilled water, to be repeated and increased. 
The addition of a few drops of some vegetable acid frees the 
hydrocyanic acid, and the same effect is produced by the acids 
of the stomach. 

Oleum Amygdala Amarj3 (Oil of Bitter Almond), con- 
tains hydrocyanic acid, and may be used for the same purposes. 
It is obtained by distillation from the kernel of the fruit of 
Amygdalus communis, variety Amara (Nat. Ord. Amygdaleae), 
and is of a yellowish colour, with a bitter, acrid, burning taste, 
and the peculiar odour of the bitter almond, which is different 
from that of hydrocyanic acid. It is heavier than water, 
slightly soluble in it, and soluble in alcohol and ether. Its 
effects upon the system are closely analogous to those of hy- 
drocyanic acid, and its strength is about four times that of the 
diluted officinal acid. Dose, for internal use, a quarter to half 
a drop in emulsion ; as an external application, one drop to a 
fluidounce of menstruum. Bitter Almond Water (aqua amyg- 
dalge amarse), is used as a vehicle for narcotic medicines. 
Dose, half a fluidounce. 

Syrupus Amygdala (Syrup of Almond), made from both 
the sweet and bitter almonds, is slightly impregnated with the 
virtues of hydrocyanic acid, and is a pleasant vehicle for cough 
mixtures. The following is the formula for preparing it : Rub 
twelves troyounces of blanched sweet almonds and four troy- 



76 MATERIA MEDICA. 

ounces of bitter almonds to a fine paste, adding, during the 
trituration, three fluid ounces of water and twelve troyounces 
of sugar. Mix the paste with two pints and thirteen fluid- 
ounces of water, strain, and dissolve in this solution, at a gentle 
heat, sixty troyounces of powdered sugar. 



CAMPHOR A — C A M P II R. 

Camphor is a peculiar concrete substance, derived from 
Camphora officinarurn, or the Camphor Laurel {Nat. Ord. 
Lauracese), a large evergreen tree of China, Japan, and 
Cochin-China. All parts of the tree are strongly impregnated 
with camphor, which is obtained from the roots and branches 
by sublimation. In this state it is known in commerce as 
crude camphor, and consists of dirty grayish grains, adhering 
in crumbling masses. Japan camphor (called also Dutch 
camphor), has a pinkish colour, and is purer than the China 
camphor, but is not brought to the United States. The crude 
camphor, as imported from Canton, is not found in the shops, 
until it is purified by resublimation with lime, when it is termed 
refined camphor. 

This occurs in large hemispherical or convex-concave cakes, 
perforated in the middle. It is solid at ordinary temperatures, 
soft and somewhat tough, but may be readily powdered by the 
addition of a few drops of alcohol. It is translucent, has a 
strong, fragrant odour, and an aromatic, bitter, afterwards 
cooling, taste. It is volatile, highly inflammable, lighter than 
water, and very slightly soluble in it. but soluble in alcohol, 
ether, chloroform, oils, and acids. Water, added to the spirit 
of camphor, precipitates the camphor. 

A valuable camphor is known in the East, which is found in 
a concrete state in the cavities and fissures of the trunk of 
Dryobalanops Camphora, a tree of Borneo and Sumatra. 
The Borneo camphor occurs in small fragments of crystals, 
which are transparent, brittle, and harder than the laurel 
camphor. An oil, or liquid camphor, is also obtained from 



CAMPHOK. 77 

the Dryobalanops, which is more highly esteemed in Oriental 
countries than the camphor itself. 

Camphor is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen 
(C 20 H 16 O 2 ). It has been considered to be an oxide of a hypo- 
thetical base called eamphogen or camphene, which is iso- 
meric with the oil of turpentine. When heated, it yields an 
oil, called oil of camphor. By passing hydrochloric acid 
into oil of turpentine, a substance is obtained called artificial 
camp Ji or. 

Physiological Effects. — The topical action of camphor is 
irritant. After its absorption, its effects, in small doses, are 
moderately stimulant, exhilarant, and anodyne, with a deter- 
mination to the skin. In large doses, it causes considerable 
disorder of the cerebro-spinal system, and generally depression 
of the circulation; and in excessive quantity, it acts as a power- 
ful acro-narcotic poison, occasioning burning heat in the stomach, 
violent convulsions, and maniacal delirium. It is also an ana- 
phrodisiac. In cases of poisoning, after evacuating the stomach, 
opium, wine, &c, are to be administered. 

Medicinal Uses. — From its combined narcotic and diaphoretic 
powers, camphor is a valuable remedy in the treatment of dysen- 
tery, and is much employed in this disease, either in combination 
with opium, or as a substitute for the latter. In the early 
stages of cholera, and in flatulent diarrhoea, it is also greatly 
prescribed. As a diaphoretic stimulant and antispasmodic, it 
is useful in the low stages 'of typhoid and typhus fevers, and 
in typhoid conditions of the system generally. In many forms 
of mental disorder, it calms irritability, relieves despondency, 
and induces sleep. And it has no superior among the ano- 
dynes, in allaying irritation or pain of the genito-urinary 
organs, as in dysmenorrhea, uterine after-pains, strangury, 
nymphomania, chordee, &c. From its anodyne and sudorific 
properties, it is also applicable to the treatment of chronic 
rheumatism and gout. Externally, camphor is employed as an 
anodyne in rheumatism, and as a discutient in chronic inflam- 
matory affections. Powdered camphor, sniffed into the nostrils, 
is a good remedy in coryza and influenza. 



78 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Administration. — The medium dose, in substance, is gr. v to 
gr. x ; but it may vary from gr. j to 3j. It is best given in 
emulsion, made by rubbing up the camphor with loaf sugar, 
gum arabic, myrrh, and water. The form of pill is objection- 
able from the difficulty with which it is dissolved in the gastric 
liquors. 

Aqua Camphors (Camphor Water), is made by rubbing up 
camphor (120 grains) with 40 minims of alcohol, and subse- 
quently with carbonate of magnesium (half a troyounce) and dis- 
tilled water (two pints). The carbonate is used to promote the 
solution of the camphor, and is afterwards separated by filtra- 
tion. Dose, f Sj (containing about gr. iij) to f§ij or iij. The 
spirit (four troy ounces to alcohol Oij), is chiefly used as an 
embrocation, but it may be given internally, where the action 
of the alcohol is not objectionable, in the dose of gtt. v to fgj. 

Llnimentum Camphors (Liniment of Camphor), consists 
of camphor (1 part), dissolved in olive oil (4 parts) : a mild 
embrocation. 

Llnimentum Saponis, (Soap Liniment), is made by digest- 
ing soap (four troyounces) and camphor (two troyounces) with 
oil of rosemary (half a fluidounce), in alcohol (two pints) and 
water (six fluidounces). It is a yellow oleaginous liquid, and 
is used as an anodyne and gently rubefacient application, in 
gouty and rheumatic pains, sprains, bruises, &c. 

Oleum Camphors (Oil of Camphor), the volatile oil ob- 
tained from Camphora officinarum, is a light reddish-brown 
fluid, with the odour and taste of camphor. It has medicinal 
properties similar to those of camphor, but is more stimulant, 
and therefore especially adapted to affections of the stomach 
and bowels. Dose, 2 or 3 drops. It is used also externally. 

PHYSOSTIGM A — C ALABAR BEAN. 

This is the seed of a perennial climbing plant of the western 
coast of Africa, which has received the name of Physostigma 
venenosum (Nat. Ord. Fabaceoe). The seed is^about the size 
of a large horse-bean, irregularly kidney-form, in shape, with 



CALABAR BEAN. 79 

a firm, hard, brittle integument, when recently gathered of a 
gray colour, but gradually deepening into a dark chocolate 
brown. The inner kernel is by far the more active portion; it 
is hard, white, pulverizable, of an edible taste, without bitter- 
ness or acridity. Alcohol, but not water, extracts its medicinal 
virtues. It is said to have yielded an active principle, termed 
physostigmin. 

The calabar bean has long been used among the negroes of 
Western Africa, as an ordeal to determine the guilt or innocence 
of accused individuals, whence its name, the ordeal bean of 
Calabar. It has been found, in full medicinal doses, to produce 
giddiness, torpor, paleness and coolness of the surface, weak 
and irregular pulse, relaxation of the muscular system, and drow- 
siness, but not stupor. An interesting effect of its action is a 
remarkable power of contracting the pupil, whether taken in- 
ternally or applied externally ; and it also contracts the ciliary 
muscle, which regulates the accommodating power of the eye. 
As a neurotic, its influence is directed rather to the spinal mar- 
row than the brain, suspending or destroying the power of the 
former of conducting impressions. 

Calabar bean has been found highly efficacious in traumatic 
tetanus. It has been used also with success in chorea, and in 
poisoning from strychnia, and spasmodic cholera. In ophthalmic 
surgery, its employment is obvious, either to produce contrac- 
tion of the pupil, or to increase the power of accommodating 
the eye to distances. 

The dose of the kernel is laid down as two or three grains, 
to begin with, gradually increased. By exhausting the kernel 
with alcohol, an extract (alcoholic) is obtained, of which the dose 
is one-eighth of a grain. A good form of administration is the 
tincture (which is not officinal), which may be made from the 
alcoholic extract, in the proportion of twelve grains to an ounce 
of alcohol — dose, 10 drops ; or a solution in glycerin may be 
used. Paper, impregnated with a concentrated tincture of the 
bean, and afterwards dried, has been applied locally to the eye. 



80 MATERIA MEDICA. 



COCCULUS — COCCULUS INDICUS. 

This is the dried seed of Anamirta Cocculus, (Nat. Ord. 
Menispermacese), a climbing shrub of India. The fruit is a one- 
celled berry, of a dark, purplish colour, with a soft pulp, and a 
single seed. This when dried, is about the size of a pea, of a 
dark grayish colour, and consists of a thin, dry, blackish, 
wrinkled integument, containing a whitish, oily, inodorous, very 
bitter kernel. The active properties reside in a peculiar white, 
crystallizable, bitter principle, termed picrotoxin, which is par- 
tially soluble in water, and very soluble in alcohol and ether. 
In the shell, an alkaloid termed menispermia has been found, 
and a neutral principle of the same composition as the alkaloid, 
termed paramenispermin. 

Effects and Uses. — Cocculus Indicus is an acrid cerebro- 
spinal narcotic, capable, in large doses, of producing death. 
It has not been much used internally ; but in the form of de- 
coction or ointment, is employed to destroy lice and other para- 
sites, and for the cure of tinea and porrigo of the scalp. It is 
said to prevent the secondary fermentation of malt liquors, into 
which it is sometimes introduced as an adulteration. Cocculus 
Indicus is not officinal. 



WOORARA. 

This substance, termed also woorari, woorali, and curare, has 
long been known as a powerful poison, prepared by the Indians 
in South America, and, of late years, has been employed as a 
medicine. Its source is unsettled, but it is generally considered 
to be an extract from the bark of an unknown plant. It is 
brought from the shores of the Amazon, and occurs in the form 
of dark-brown or grayish lumps or powder, of an intensely 
bitter taste, and, when triturated, of a powerful odour. A prin- 
ciple termed curarine is said to have been extracted from 
woorara. 

Effects and Uses. — Woorara is ranked with the sedative nar- 



ETHER. 81 

cotics, and is considered to destroy life by more or less rapid 
paralysis of the respiratory muscles. A peculiarity of its action 
is that it is comparatively innoxious when taken by the stomach, 
being either not absorbed at all in this viscus, or so slowly, as 
to allow of its elimination by the kidneys, before dangerous 
accumulation in the blood. Hence, for therapeutic purposes, it 
must be employed either endermically to a blistered surface, or 
by hypodermic injection. It is very similar in its action to 
conium, and may be employed therapeutically to fulfil the same 
indications. The amount administered endermically is from a 
half to three-quarters of a grain daily. 

ORDER II. — ETHEREAL ANESTHETICS.- 

The term, Anaesthetics (from a, non, and aloBqois, sensation), 
properly speaking, includes all agents which diminish sensibility 
and relieve pain. It has, however, been used to denominate a 
class of ethereal remedies, which are applied by inhalation, and 
produce such a condition of temporary insensibility, as to pre- 
vent pain during surgical operations and parturition. 

The vapours usually employed to produce anaesthesia are 
those of ether and chloroform. Many other substances 
have, however, lately been introduced as anaesthetics. 

ETHER — ETHER. 

Ether is prepared by the distillation of alcohol and sulphu- 
ric acid, and is afterwards rectified by redistillation with solu- 
tion of potassa. For inhalation, however, it is further purified 
by being shaken with water, by wdiich it is freed from alcohol, 
and this, as well as acid contaminations, are afterwards re- 
moved by the agency of chloride of calcium and freshly cal- 
cined lime. Thus purified, it is designated as ^Ether Fortior 
— Stronger Ether. 

Although commonly termed sulphuric ether, in allusion to 
the sulphuric acid used in its preparation, yet ether contains no 
sulphuric acid. By the action of the acid upon alcohol, this 

6 



82 MATERIA MEDICA. 

substance, which is chemically a hjdrated oxide of ethyl, is de- 
prived of the elements of water, and is converted into the oxide 
of ethyl or ether, for which the formula is C 4 H 5 0. 

Ether is a transparent, colourless liquid, with a strong, fra- 
grant odour, and a hot, pungent taste. It wholly evaporates in 
the air, so rapidly as to cause a considerable degree of cold, is 
very inflammable, combines with alcohol and chloroform in 
every proportion, and dissolves in ten times its volume of water. 
The sp. gr. of pure ether is 0.713, of stronger ether, 0.728, of 
ordinary officinal ether, 0.750. The boiling point of stronger 
ether is about 98° F. 

Effects and Uses when Swallowed. — When taken into the 
stomach, ether produces a primary stimulant and secondary 
narcotic effect, the stage of excitement being, however, very 
transient. It has long been employed as an antispasmodic and 
anodyne remedy in asthma, angina pectoris, hysteria, cramp of 
the stomach and bowels, spasm of the gall ducts, &c. ; and 
from its combined stimulant and antispasmodic virtues, it has 
been found useful in the latter stages of typhus, attended by 
subsultus tendinum, &c. As a topical anodyne, ether is a very 
good application in nervous headache and earache ; it has been 
also applied with advantage in aphthae, stomatitis, diphtheria, 
and other affections of the mouth and throat ; and from its re- 
frigerant effects, it has been used in the reduction of strangu- 
lated hernias, and as a cooling lotion in cerebral affections. If 
evaporation be repressed, when it is applied locally, it acts as 
a rubefacient, and may be employed for counter-irritation. 

Dose, fSss to fSj, to be increased when habitually used. It 
may be incorporated with water, by rubbing it up with sperma- 
ceti, in the proportion of two grains to a fluidrachm of ether, 
or it may be given in capsules of sugared gum. 

Effects and Uses when Inhaled. — When the vapour of ether 
is absorbed into the system through the pulmonary surface, the 
nervous functions are successively and progressively affected. 
The mental faculties and volition become first impaired ; insen- 
sibility and unconsciousness rapidly supervene, during which 
susceptibility to pain is lost ; and the patient lies in a trance- 



ETHER. 83 

like sleep, resembling death. This condition is often preceded 
by one of excitement, during which patients sometimes moan, 
sing, rave, or present pugnacious manifestations. In the begin- 
ning of etherization, the circulation is accelerated, but it is after- 
wards depressed. The period of intoxication lasts from five to 
ten minutes, and the patient ordinarily recovers without serious 
inconvenience ; although headache, nausea, drowsiness, and 
languor sometimes ensue for a few hours. Occasionally, con- 
gestion of the brain or lungs, cataleptic rigidity with prolonged 
insensibility, and, in females, hysterical phenomena ensue after 
etherization ; but these effects are uncommon, and it is believed 
that death has never followed the use of ether, when care has 
been taken to admit atmospheric air into the lungs along with 
the ether. During the stage of insensibility, convulsive 
twitches or muscular rigidity are occasionally noticed ; the 
breathing is sometimes stertorous ; the iris becomes fixed ; the 
pupils are dilated ; the eyeballs are upturned ; and the orbicu- 
laris palpebrarum does not contract when touched. Insensibility 
to pain in some cases takes place before unconsciousness ; and 
when patients are recovering from the latter state, the mental 
faculties are often completely restored, while insensibility to 
pain continues. 

Since the year 1846, the inhalation of ether, first resorted to 
in our own country, has been practised very generally in all 
parts of the world, with the greatest success, for the prevention 
of pain in surgical operations ; and its use has been also 
extended with the happiest results to the relief of pain in labour. 

It should not be exhibited where disease of the heart or 
brain, or serious obstruction of the lungs, exists, or when from 
any cause there is unusual tendency to syncope, and precaution 
should be taken to guard against asphyxia ; but when adminis- 
tered with proper care and discrimination, it is attended with 
little or no danger or unpleasant results of any kind. 

The quantity of ether necessary to effect etherization is 
about two ounces ; and it may be conveniently applied by 
means of a soft sponge or handkerchief. The sponge is usually 
adjusted in shape to the projection of the nose, and, after being 



84 MATERIA MEDICA. 

soaked in warm water, and squeezed dry, is saturated with 
pure ether. It is then applied to the nostrils, the mouth being 
left free to receive atmospheric air ; and, if irritability of the 
air-passages occur, this is to be gradually overcome. From three 
to five minutes are required to produce ansesthezation, and its 
occurrence is known by closure of the eyelids (if they have 
been previously open), failure to respond to questions, and mus- 
cular relaxation. The sponge is then to be removed, and may 
be reapplied from time to time if necessary. 

Etherization has been also resorted to in a variety of morbid 
conditions, in which the administration of narcotics and anti- 
spasmodics has been found useful. It exerts a powerful control 
over the violent types of spasmodic disease, and has been pre- 
scribed with the greatest advantage in hysteria, tetanus, poison- 
ing from strychnia, asthma, chorea, convulsions, puerperal 
eclampsia, whooping-cough, dysmenorrhoea, and almost every 
description of spasm ; and as a relaxant in the reduction of 
dislocations. 

Local anaesthesia and congelation may be produced through 
the agency of the ether spray applied to a part by the atomizer, 
(see p. 39). 

CHLOEOFORMUM — CHLOROFORM. 

Chloroform is usually obtained from the distillation of alco- 
hol with chlorinated lime, and for medicinal use, 

Commercial Chloroform (chloroformum venale), is purified 
by agitation with one-fifth its weight of sulphuric acid, which 
destroys the contamination of chlorinated pyrogenous oil ; and 
the sulphurous acid formed and the water present are afterwards 
removed by means of a watery solution of carbonate of sodium, 
and of stronger alcohol and lime. The purest chloroform, for 
internal use, is now made from the hydrate of chloral. 

Purified Chloroform [Chloroformum Purificatum) is a 
colourless, volatile liquid, of a bland, ethereal odour, and a hot, 
aromatic, saccharine taste. It is not inflammable, is slightly 
soluble in water, and freely soluble in alcohol and ether. It 



CHLOROFORM. 85 

has extensive solvent powers, dissolving camphor, the fixed and 
volatile oils, most resins and fats, iodine, bromine, the organic 
alkalies, &c. The purest chloroform has a sp. gr. of 1.5022. 
Officinal chloroform has a sp. gr. of 1.480, when it contains a 
little alcohol; and, as usually found, its sp. gr. is about 1.475, 
when it contains more alcohol, and is less apt to become acid. 
The boiling point of pure chloroform is 142° F. It is, chemi- 
cally, a terchloride of formyl, C 2 HC1 3 . Chloroform is some- 
times contaminated with chlorinated pyrogenous oil (a very in- 
jurious impurity) ; this may be detected and removed by strong 
sulphuric acid, which gives the chloroform a colour varying from 
yellowish to reddish-brown, according to the amount of impurity. 
The most delicate test for the presence of alcohol is the binitro- 
sulphuret of iron, which, when agitated with chloroform, will 
produce a brown tint if alcohol be present. 

Physiological Effects. — The effects of chloroform on the sys- 
tem are analogous to those of ether, but much more rapid and 
powerful. When inhaled, in the dose of a fluidrachm or more, 
it rapidly induces anaesthetic sleep, with great relaxation of the 
muscles, and the most complete insensibility to painful agents. 
The period at which insensibility occurs varies from fifteen 
seconds to two minutes ; and it continues usually between five 
and ten minutes, and maybe prolonged considerably, by renewals 
of the inhalation. The patient usually recovers without recol- 
lection of what has occurred during the state of insensibility, 
and with few or no uncomfortable sequelae. 

The administration of chloroform has, in some cases, been 
attended with fatal syncope. This has ordinarily occurred 
with such rapidity as to render remedial interference unavail- 
ing : but, at the slightest approach of symptoms of the kind, 
the patient should be placed in a recumbent position, cold 
affusions should be applied, and, above all, electro-magnetism 
should be resorted to. It would be proper always to have an 
electro-magnetic machine ready for use, when chloroform is 
inhaled. 

Topically applied, and when its evaporation is prevented, 
chloroform acts as an irritant, and soon vesicates the skin — 



86 MATERIA MEDICA. 

powerfully diminishing painful impressions during its applica- 
tion. 

Medicinal Uses. — Chloroform is prescribed by the stomach 
as an anodyne and antispasmodic, in all the cases to which 
ether is applicable, and has the advantage of a more agreeable 
taste. It has been found particularly useful to relieve the pain 
and vomiting of cancer of the stomach. It has been also 
extolled as an antiperiodic in the treatment of intermittent 
fevers. Externally, it is used as a topical anodyne, and also 
as a stimulating application to foul and indolent ulcers, and 
occasionally for its constitutional effects. 

Dose, from f5ss to f5j, in sweetened water or mucilage ; to 
be repeated. As an anti-neuralgic liniment, f5j to f§ij of 
camphor liniment ; or as a rubefacient and anodyne, undiluted, 
on linen, covered with oiled silk, to prevent evaporation. As 
a wash or gargle, f5j or ij to water Oj. 

The introduction of chloroform, as an anaesthetic, took place 
shortly after that of ether ; and, from its greater intensity of 
action, its freedom from irritating effects on the bronchial 
mucous membrane, its more agreeable odour, and its non-inflam- 
mability, it has been extensively used, particularly in Great 
Britain, to the exclusion of ether. A very considerable number 
of fatal cases have, however, occurred from the inhalation of 
this agent, where its administration did not appear in any way 
counter-indicated ; and it can scarcely be considered a perfectly 
safe remedy. It is employed as an anaesthetic, anodyne, and 
antispasmodic, to fulfil the indications to which ether is appli- 
cable. 

The dose for inhalation is a fluidrachm, to be repeated in two 
minutes, if anaesthesia be not produced ; and its effects may be 
renewed from time to time, without injury. It may be applied 
on a handkerchief, held near the nose or mouth, care being 
taken to allow a proper admixture of atmospheric air. 

A solution of chloroform in ether has been used in the United 
States, but from the unequal volatilization of the two liquids, 
it must be difficult to modify their effects by combination. 

Spimtus Chloroformi (Spirit of Chloroform), is a solution 



METHYLIC ETHER. 87 

of a troy ounce of chloroform in twelve fluidounces of diluted 
alcohol ; a convenient form for internal exhibition. Dose, 
f5ss — f5j. 

Liniment of Chloroform is made by mixing three parts of 
chloroform with four parts of olive oil. 

Mixture of Chloroform is made by mixing chloroform, in 
which camphor is dissolved [sixty grains in half a troyounce of 
chloroform), with six fluid ounces of water, by the intervention 
of the yolk of an egg. Dose, foss-f§j. 

Since the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of ether and 
chloroform, many other substances have been employed for the 
purpose of anaesthesia. Of these may be mentioned : 

I. Rhigolene, a petroleum naphtha, obtained by the distilla- 
tion of petroleum. It is the lightest of all known liquids, 
having a sp. gr. 0.625, is highly volatile and inflammable, boils 
at 70° F., and in its composition is a hydrocarbon, containing 
no oxygen. It is nearly odourless, and has been employed to 
produce local anaesthesia through the agency of the atomizer, 
and is the most convenient, most rapid, and most easily con- 
trolled freezing liquid that can be used. Its name is derived 
from w°?, extreme cold. 

II. Bichloride oe Methylene. — This liquid is most easily 
procured by the action of nascent hydrogen (developed from 
zinc, water, and sulphuric acid), upon chloroform. Its com- 
position is CH 2 C1 2 . It is a colourless fluid, having a pleasant 
ethereal odour like that of chloroform, boils at 88° F., has sp. 
gr. 1.34, and mixes with ether and chloroform in all propor- 
tions. It is said nearly to equal chloroform in efficacy, with 
less clanger to life, while its effects are much more rapid. It 
may be used in about the same dose as chloroform. 

III. Methylic Ether, made by digesting methylic alcohol 
with strong sulphuric acid, is a gaseous substance, lately em- 
ployed. Under the name of methyl- ethy lie ether, it has been 
used, dissolved in ethylic ether, and is said to produce rapid 
anaesthesia, without spasm, syncope or asphyxia, during inhala- 
tion, or subsequent nausea. One or two drachms may be in- 



88 MATERIA MEDICA. 

troduced into a bag inhaler, and the gas is volatilized by means 
of a hand bellows. 

IV. Compounds of Amyl. — Various compounds of amyl 
(C 10 H n ), products derivable from the oxidation of starchy mat 
ter, have been proposed as anaesthetics. Amylic alcohol, or 
fusel oil (the hydrated oxide of amyl, C 10 H n O+HO), is one of 
the products of the alcoholic fermentation. It is a colourless, 
oily liquid, of a strong, offensive odour, and an acrid, burning 
taste. When inhaled by animals, it has been found to produce 
muscular paralysis and convulsions. Amylene (C 10 H 10 ) is pre- 
pared by distilling amylic alcohol with a concentrated solution 
of chloride of zinc. It is a colourless, mobile liquid, having a 
peculiar disagreeable smell. Of the amyl series, amylene alone 
can be considered as a true anaesthetic, that will produce com- 
plete insensibility to pain. An extreme dose is, however, re- 
quired for this purpose, and its operation is dangerous to life. 
The hydruret, iodide, acetate, and nitrite of amyl have also 
been employed. Of these compounds, however, the- nitrite 
alone appears likely to come into use as a therapeutic agent. 
The nitrite or amyl is prepared by heating one part of strong 
nitric acid with two parts of rectified fusel oil until reaction 
just commences, when the fire is withdrawn. After the violent 
reaction has subsided, heat is again carefully applied. The 
distillate obtained below 212° F., is rectified over carbonate of 
potassium, with the precaution to collect only that portion dis- 
tilling between 202° and 206° F. It is a nitrite of the oxide 
of amyl, and is an amber-coloured, volatile, inflammable liquid, 
of sp. gr. 0.913, boiling at 182° F., with an odour and taste 
like that of ripe pears. Its composition is C 10 H n NO 3 +HO. 
It is not a true anaesthetic, as it does not destroy conscious- 
ness, unless a condition approaching to death is produced. It 
exercises, however, a rapid and powerful influence on the heart 
and circulation, and as an excitant of vascular action may be 
considered the most energetic agent as yet physiologically dis- 
covered. It has been employed to rouse the system in cases 
of syncope and prostration, and has been also found efficacious 
in relieving the pain of angina pectoris, and as a general relaxer 



NITROUS OXIDE GAS. 89 

of muscular spasm. Experiments upon animals show it to be 
also a physiological antidote in cases of poisoning from strych- 
nia, and it would probably prove efficacious in tetanus. Dose, 
5 to 6 drops. 

V. Tetrachloride or Carbon. — This substance, termed 
also bichloride of carbon and chlorocarbon (CC1 4 ), is made by 
passing the vapour of bisulphuret of carbon, together with chlo- 
rine, through a red-hot porcelain tube ; and is purified by agi- 
tation with an alcoholic solution of potash, afterwards washing 
with water, and subsequently redistilling. It is a transparent, 
colourless fluid, having an ethereal and sweetish odour, not un- 
like that of chloroform. Its sp. gr. is high, 1.56, and its boil- 
ing point, 170° F. It is miscible in all proportions with ether 
and chloroform. Chlorocarbon has been employed by inhala- 
tion as an antispasmodic, anodyne, and anaesthetic, and has the 
advantage of a pleasant smell and freedom from nauseating 
effect. For full and prolonged anaesthesia, however, there are 
objections to its use in the heaviness of its vapour, its insuf- 
ficient volatility, and the consequent difficulty of its elimination 
from the system. It may be inhaled to the extent of f5i. A 
mixture of one part of chlorocarbon and six parts of chloroform 
is recommended as a safe and agreeable anaesthetic. The 
Tetrabromide of Carbon (CBr 4 ) has very recently been 
added to our list of anaesthetics. It may be made by heating 
bisulphuret of carbon in a sealed tube with bromide of iodine. 
It is a white substance, crystallizing in plates, of an ethereal 
odour, somewhat resembling that of tetrachloride of carbon, 
and sweetish taste. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in 
ether, alcohol, bisulphuret of carbon, chloroform, bromoform, 
benzole, and petroleum. 

VI. Nitrous Oxide Gas was the substance by which an- 
aesthesia was in the. first instance produced, in the hands of 
Mr. Horace Wells, a dentist of Hartford, Connecticut. It 
is made by the decomposition of nitrate of ammonium by heat. 
Its composition is NO. It is a colourless, respirable gas, 
absorbable by water, and the solution, like the gas itself, has a 
faint, agreeable odour and sweet taste. This gas is both a plea- 



90 MATERIA MEDICA. 

sant and efficient anaesthetic, more transitory in its action than 
either ether or chloroform, and free from disagreeable or serious 
consequences. It is well adapted to employment in the extrac- 
tion of teeth, but its effects are too transient for the anaesthesia 
required in protracted surgical operations. The amount neces- 
sary to produce anaesthesia (one or two gallons), as well as the 
complicated apparatus required for its administration, consti- 
tute also an objection to its general use. Water impregnated 
with about five times its volume of nitrous oxide, has been used 
internally as a stimulant, in the dose of half a pint to a pint 
and a half, during the course of the day. In experiments 
upon dogs, nitrous oxide water injected into the bowels has 
been found to act as a physiological antidote in cases of poison- 
ing from chloroform, carbonic acid, hydrocyanic acid, and other 
agents. 

ORDER III. — ANTISPASMODICS. 

Antispasmodics are medicines that allay irregular nervous 
action. Their effects upon the economy in a state of health 
are not very decided, and are limited to a slight stimulation of 
the circulation, and exhilaration of the mental faculties. Their 
influence is, however, strikingly shown in certain deranged 
conditions of the nervous system, particularly in those forms 
of spasm, which depend upon idiopathic or primary nervous dis- 
order. They are also useful in many varieties of mental dis- 
turbance, as wakefulness, hypochondriasis, and even insanity, 
and are often preferable to narcotics in the treatment of these 
cases, from their comparative freedom of action on the brain. 
They are all distinguished by a powerful odour. 



ASSAFCETIDA — ASSAEETIDA. 

Assafetida is a gum-resinous exudation, obtained from 
the root of Narthex Assafoetida (Nat. Ord. Apiaceae). This 
plant is a native of Persia, and has a large, tapering root, the 
size of a man's leg, with long, lanceolate leaves, springing 



ASSAFETIDA. 91 

directly from the root, and an erect stem, from six to nine feet 
in height, rising from the midst of the leaves. The drug is 
obtained from incisions made into the root, or by taking succes- 
sive slices of it. The exuded juice is scraped off, hardened in 
the sun, and afterwards packed for exportation. It occurs in 
masses of varying size, consistence, and colour, but is usually 
whitish, intermixed with darker spots, and becomes reddish, 
and finally brown, by exposure to the air. It is sometimes 
soft and adhesive, at other times hard and brittle, and is not 
readily powdered, except at a low temperature. It breaks 
with a waxy lustre, and the best samples appear to be composed 
of irregularly-shaped tears.. Its taste is unpleasant, bitter, and 
acrid ; its odour powerful, alliaceous, and fetid. 

Assafetida is a gum-resin, united to a volatile oil. The gum 
is dissolved by water ; and the mucilage thus formed suspends 
the resin and volatile oil. The resin and volatile oil are solu- 
ble in alcohol ; but the tincture becomes milky on the addition 
of water, owing to the separation of the resin. 

Physiological Effects. — Assafetida is a moderate excitant and 
exhilarant, and exerts a marked influence upon morbid condi- 
tions of the nervous system. It also stimulates the mucous 
secretions generally, and increases the peristaltic action of the 
bowels. Its volatile oil is absorbed, and the odorous principle 
is recognized in the secretions, especially in the perspiration. 

Medicinal Uses. — No medicine is more highly esteemed as a 
direct antispasmodic than assafetida. It is much resorted to 
in the various forms of hysteria, and is particularly valuable in 
relieving the mental depression, which constitutes one of the 
protean types of this disorder. In other spasmodic diseases, 
as chorea, asthma, whooping-cough, &c, it is a favourite remedy 
with many practitioners ; and, from its combined expectorant 
and antispasmodic properties, it is particularly adapted to spas- 
modic pectoral affections. In certain diseases of the abdominal 
viscera, as flatulent colic and costiveness, assafetida is often 
useful as an antispasmodic and laxative enema. It is also 
prescribed as a stimulating emmenagogue, when the uterine dis- 
order is attended with a disturbance of the nervous functions. 



92 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Notwithstanding its disagreeable odour, this drug is largely 
used as a condiment in Asia ; and even in the refined cookery 
of Europe, its flavour is admired. Many persons take it habitu- 
ally for its exhilarant effects ; and, when used as a medicine, it 
generally becomes acceptable. 

Administration. — Dose, gr. v to 3j, in pill. It is most fre- 
quently given in the form of mixture (Mistura Assafcetidae, — 
5ij, rubbed gradually with water Oss), — dose, fgss to f§j, re- 
peated, or as an enema, f§ij to f§iv. This mixture, from its 
whiteness and opacity, is sometimes called lac assafoetidce, or 
milk of assafetida. Pills of assafetida, made by beating up 
three parts of assafetida with one part of soap and a little water, 
are officinal, each pill containing 3 grains of the gum-resin. 
The tincture (four troyounces to alcohol Oij — dose f5j), is a 
good preparation, where the alcohol is not objectionable. A 
plaster is used externally in whooping-cough and catarrh ; it is 
made by dissolving twelve troyounces of assafetida and six troy- 
ounces of galbanum in three pints of alcohol, evaporating to the 
consistence of honey, and to this adding twelve troyounces of 
lead-plaster and six troyounces of yellow wax, previously melted 
together. 

GALBANUM. 

Galbanum is a gum-resin obtained from an undetermined 
Eastern plant. It is met with in the form of tears, or more 
commonly in lumps, of a brownish colour, and has a peculiar 
balsamic odour, and a hot, bitter, acrid taste. It is a gum- 
resin united to a volatile oil. Its effects are similar to those 
of assafetida, but less active; and it is chiefly employed ex- 
ternally, as a stimulant and resolvent to indolent swellings. 
The compound pills of galbanum are used as antispasmodic 
and emmenagogue ; they are made by beating into a pilular 
mass thirty-six grains of galbanum and myrrh, each, and tivelve 
grains of assafetida, with a little syrup, the mass to be divided 
into 24 pills, — dose, 3 to 5 pills. Galbanum forms the 
basis of the compound galbanum plaster, which contains eight 



VALERIAN. 93 

parts of galbanum, one part of turpentine, three parts of Bur- 
gundy pitch, and thirty-six parts of plaster of lead. 



AMMONIACUM — AMMONIAC. 

This is a gum-resinous exudation obtained from Dorema 
Ammoniacum (Nat. Ord. Apiacese), a plant of Persia. It comes 
in tears or lumps, of an irregular shape, yellowish on the out- 
side, whitish within, is moderately hard and brittle, and has 
an unpleasant, bitter, and rather acrid taste, with a peculiar 
smell, somewhat like that of galbanum. It is a gum-resin, 
with a little volatile oil. Its effects are similar to those of as- 
safetida ; but it is seldom used, except as an antispasmodic ex- 
pectorant in chronic catarrh. Dose, gr. x to xxx. A mixture 
audi plaster are officinal. The mixture has the same formula 
as mixture of assafetida; the plaster is made by dissolving jive 
troy ounces of ammoniac in half a pint of diluted acetic acid, 
straining, and evaporating to a proper consistence. A plaster 
of ammoniac with mercury is also officinal. 

VALERIANA — VALERIAN. 

Valeriana officinalis, or Wild Valerian (Nat. Ord. Valeri- 
anaceae), is a perennial European plant, growing to the height 
of three or four feet, with serrated leaves, and small, reddish- 
white fragrant flowers. The root is the portion used, and 
consists of numerous long, slender, cylindrical fibres, attached 
to a rough, tuberculated head. The colour of the dried root 
externally is yellowish or brown, and internally white ; when 
powdered, it is yellowish-gray. It has a peculiar, powerful 
odour, of which cats are fond, and a bitterish, subacrid, aro- 
matic taste. Water and alcohol extract its virtues, which de- 
pend on the presence of a volatile oil, from which a peculiar 
colourless, volatile acid, called valerianic, may be separated. 

Effect and Uses. — Valerian generally acts as an energetic 
excitant and antispasmodic, although at times it makes but a 
feeble impression on the system. It is much used as a ner- 



94 MATERIA MEDICA. 

vous excitant and antispasmodic in the various forms of hys- 
teria, and occasionally, also, in epilepsy, chorea, hemicrania, 
hypochondriasis, delirium tremens, &c. 

Dose of the powder, from 5ss to ojss, three or four times a 
day ; of the infusion (half a troyounce to Oj of water), fgj to 
ij ; of the tincture (four troyounces to diluted alcohol Oij), f5j ; 
of the ammoniated tincture (four troyounces to aromatic spirit 
of ammonia Oij — an excellent preparation), f5j to ij ; of the 
fluid extract, f5j ; of the extract (alcoholic) gr. x. to xxx ; of 
the oil, 4 or. 5 drops. 

Ammonii Valerianas ( Valerianate of Ammonium). — This 
salt, made by combining valerianic acid with ammonia (ob- 
tained by the reaction of lime upon chloride of ammonium), 
occurs in snow-white, quadrangular plates, of an offensive 
odour like that of valerianic acid, and a sharp, sweetish taste. 
It deliquesces in a moist air, effloresces in a dry one, and is 
very soluble both in water and alcohol. Potassa and the 
mineral acids decompose it. It is much employed in neuralgia, 
hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, &c. Dose, gr. ij-viij, given in 
coated pills ; or an elixir, prepared with aromatics* may be 
used. 



CYPRIPEDIUM. 

The root of Cypripedium pubescens and of Cypripedium 
parviflorum {Nat. Ord. Orchidaceae), common indigenous plants, 
known under the names of ladies' slipper, and moccasin plant, are 
recognized in the secondary list of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. 
They grow to the height of one or two feet, with large many- 
nerved, plaited leaves, and large handsome flowers resembling 
the Indian moccasin ; C. pubescens (yellow ladies' slipper), has 
yellow flowers. The dried root has a small knotted dark 
head, with numerous fibres, of a yellowish-brown colour, of an 
aromatic odour, and a bitter, sweetish, somewhat pungent 

* Take of valerianate of ammonium, gi ; fluid extract of vanilla, f^ss ; cd. 
tinct. of cardamom, fgvi ; curacoa, fgij ; water, f^iv ; mix. Dose, a tea- 
spoonful three times a day. 



TEA. 95 

taste. It contains a volatile oil and bitter principle, and has 
been used as a substitute for valerian. Dose of the powdered 
root, gr. xv, three times a day. An infusion and tincture are 
also used ; by precipitating the tincture, an oleoresin is ob- 
tained, of which the dose is half a grain to three grains. 



SCUTELLARIA — SKULLCAP. 

The herb of Scutellaria lateriflora (Nat. Ord. Labiatae), an 
indigenous perennial herb, growing to the height of one or two 
feet, with ovate, acute, dentate, petiolate, opposite leaves, and 
small pale-blue flowers, is considered by many American prac- 
titioners to possess valuable antispasmodic properties. An 
infusion (two troyounces to boiling water Oj) may be taken ad 
libitum ; and a fluid extract is also used. 



DRACONTIU M — S KUNK CABBAGE. 

Dracontium foetidum, Ictodes foetidus, Symplocarpus foetidns, 
or Skunk Cabbage (Nat. Ord. Araceae), is an indigenous plant, 
growing in moist situations, which flowers in April and May, 
and afterwards sends up numerous large and luxuriant leaves. 
The fresh root has a strong, fetid odour, and an acrid taste, but 
loses these properties by being kept. It is stimulant, antispas- 
modic, and narcotic, and is employed in hysteria, asthma, chronic 
catarrh, &c. Dose, gr. x to xx, gradually increased. It is 
also given in the form of infusion. The leaves are used in the 
country to keep up the discharge from blistered surfaces and to 
stimulate indolent ulcers. 

The following vegetable substances, used as articles of diet, 
may be ranked also with antispasmodics. 

I. Thea — Tea, the dried leaves of Thea Chinensis (Nat. 
Ord. Ternstromiaceas), an evergreen shrub, of China and 
Japan, whence the markets of the world are supplied. The 
most important constituents of tea are essential oil (upon 



96 MATERIA MEDICA. 

which the flavour depends), tannic acid, and a crystalline, vola- 
tilizable, nitrogenous alkaloid principle, termed theina. 

II. Caffea — Coffee, the seed of Coffea Arabica (Nat. Ord. 
Cinchonaceae), a small tree, which is a native of Southern 
Arabia and Abyssinia, and is cultivated in various tropical and 
semi-tropical countries. Coffee contains a nitrogenous princi- 
ple, caffeina (C 16 H 10 N 4 O 4 ), which is considered to be identical 
with theina, and two peculiar principles, one resembling tannin, 
termed caffeo-tannic acid, the other termed caffeic acid. The 
volatile oil, upon which the flavour depends, is developed by 
roasting. Coffee may be used for the general indications of 
antispasmodics, and is besides especially efficacious in relieving 
the sopor produced by opium poisoning. Both tea and coffee 
lessen the uric acid and increase the urea in the urine. 

III. Theobroma — Chocolate (noticed more at length under 
the head of demulcents — see Oil of Theobroma) contains a 
nitrogenous principle, theobromia, nearly identical in composi- 
tion with caffeina (C 14 H 8 N 4 4 ). 

IY. Erythroxylon Coca — Coca. — The leaves of this plant, 
a shrub, about six feet in height, have long been used as a 
masticatory by the Indians in Peru, for the purpose of enabling 
them to undergo fatigue, hunger, and thirst. Statements have 
been recently made, of the medicinal efficacy of this substance 
as a nervous stimulant, in doses of half an ounce, in infusion. 
An alkaloid principle, termed cocaina, has been found in coca. 

V. Guanara. — This occurs in chocolate-coloured cylinders, 
which are worked up from the fruit of Paullinia Sorbilis (Nat. 
Ord. Sapindacese), a plant of Brazil, where it is used to make 
a common and highly esteemed beverage. It is said to contain 
twice as much theina as the best tea. It is recommended medi- 
cinally, as a tonic, astringent, and antispasmodic. 

VI. Mate. — Under this name, the dried leaves of Ilex Para- 
guaiensis, a small tree or shrub of Paraguay, cultivated also in 
other parts of South America, are extensively used as a beverage 
throughout the Atlantic region of that continent. Paraguay 
tea, as it is termed, has a balsamic odour and bitter taste, and 
contains a principle identical with caffeina and theina, and also 
tannic acid. 



MUSK. 97 



MOSCHU S— M USE. 

Musk is a peculiar concrete secretion obtained from Mos- 
chus moschiferus, the Musk Deer, an animal rather larger than 
the goat and resembling the deer in its characters, which inhabits 
the mountainous portions of Central Asia. The musk-bag is 
'found only in the male, and lies between the umbilicus and 
prepuce. It is an oval pod, about two and a half inches long, 
and one and a half broad, flat on one side, and convex and 
hairy on the other, and in a full-grown animal contains from 
5jss to 5vj, of a liquid secretion, w T hich, when dried, is musk. 
Two kinds are known in commerce, the China and the Russia 
Musk, the former of which is much the stronger. 

Musk occurs in grains or lumps concreted together of a red- 
dish-brown colour, and has usually some hairs of the pod mixed 
with it. It has a powerful diffusive, aromatic odour and a bit- 
terish taste. It is inflammable, leaving a light spongy char- 
coal. On analysis, it yields ammonia and a variety of other 
constituents, but the odorous principle has not been isolated. 
It is partially soluble in Water and alcohol, and completely so 
in ether. 

Owing to its high price, musk is greatly sophisticated. 
Sometimes artificial pods are met with, which may be distin- 
guished from the genuine, by the absence of the remains of the 
penis and of an aperture in the middle of the hairy coat. The 
musk itself is more frequently adulterated, by mixture with 
dried blood, and a variety of substances. Indeed, little if any 
genuine musk is found in the shops. 

Effects and Uses. — Musk is a powerful excitant and anti- 
spasmodic, without much effect on the cerebral functions. If a 
pure article could be obtained, it would have no superior as a 
direct antispasmodic in the treatment of essential nervous dis- 
orders — hysteria, epilepsy, chorea, and hiccough, and as a com- 
bined excitant and antispasmodic in the latter stages of typhus. 
But it is now little prescribed, owing to the difficulty of pro- 
curing it good. 

7 



98 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Administration. — It may be given in the form of bolus or 
emulsion. Dose, gr. x, to be repeated every two or three 
hours. 

An article, termed Artificial Musk, is made by the addi- 
tion of one part of rectified oil of amber to three parts of nitric 
acid. It resembles musk both in sensible and medicinal pro- 
perties, and has been prescribed in its stead, in the same dose. 

CASTOREUM — CASTOR. 

This is a peculiar concrete substance, found in membra- 
nous follicles, which exist between the anus and external geni- 
tals of the Castor fiber, or Beaver. It occurs in the form of 
solid unctuous masses, contained in pairs of sacs about two 
inches in length, of a brownish-black colour externally, and of a 
recldish-brow T n colour internally. It has a peculiar, penetrating, 
disagreeable smell, and a bitter, acrid, nauseous taste. It is 
soluble in alcohol and ether. Castor contains, with other mat- 
ters, a volatile oil, a peculiar neutral crystalline substance, 
termed eastorin, and salicin, the bitter principle of the willow. 
According to many authorities, the oil is a derivative of salicin. 

Effects and Uses. — Castor is moderately excitant and anti- 
spasmodic, and is very analogous in its effects to musk. It is 
not much used. Dose of castor in substance, gr. x to gr. xx ; 
of the tincture (two troyounces to alcohol Oij), f5j to f5i> 

OLEUM SUCCINI RECTIFICATUM — RECTIFIED OIL OF 

AMBER. 

Amber, Succinum, is a sort of fossil resin found in various 
parts of the world, and comes to this country from the shores of 
the Baltic. It is a hard, brittle substance, usually translucent, 
and of a pale golden-yellow colour, insipid, and inodorous, 
except when heated. By distillation, it yields an oil, OIL OF 
amber (oleum succini), which when rectified (by the distillation 
of one part of the oil with six parts of water), is employed 
medicinally. The oil is nearly colourless at first, but gradually 



COMPOUND SPIRIT OF ETHER. 99 

becomes brown, has a strong, peculiar odour, and a pungent, 
acrid taste. It is soluble in alcohol. An acid called succinic 
is also obtained from amber. 

Effects and Uses. — Oil of amber is excitant and antispas- 
modic, and has been used in hysteria, epilepsy, tetanus, per- 
tussis, and amenorrhcea. It is chiefly employed as an external 
application, and is a good remedy in pertussis and convulsions 
of children. Dose of the oil, gtt. v to gtt. xv. For external 
use, it may be mixed with three or four parts of olive oil and 
brandy, with one part of laudanum added. 

OLEUM ^THEEEUM — ETHEREAL OIL. 

This substance, known also as oil of ivine, is a result of the 
distillation of alcohol with a large excess of sulphuric acid ; it 
is afterwards mixed with an equal volume of stronger ether. 
It is a transparent, nearly colourless, volatile liquid, of a pecu- 
liar, aromatic, ethereal odour, and sharp, bitter taste, sparingly 
soluble in water, but readily dissolved by alcohol or ether. Sp. 
gr. 0.91. It has antispasmodic properties, but is used in 
medicine only as an ingredient of the Compound Spirit of 
Ether. 

SPIRITUS ^ETHERIS COMPOSITUS — COMPOUND 
SPIRIT OF ETHER. 

This preparation, known as Hoffman's Anodyne, is a solution 
of ethereal oil (f5vj), in'ether (Oss), and alcohol (Oj). It is a 
colourless, volatile, inflammable liquid, having an aromatic, 
ethereal odour, and a burning, slightly sweetish taste. It 
becomes milky on being mixed with water, owing to the pre- 
cipitation of the ethereal oil. 

Effects and Uses. — Hoffman's Anodyne has the antispas- 
modic and stimulant effects of ether, and derives additional tran- 
quillizing and anodyne properties from the ethereal oil present. 
It is much used in hysteria, and is often added to laudanum, to 
prevent the nausea w T hich the latter sometimes excites. Dose, 
f5j to foij, in sweetened water. 



100 MATERIA MEDICA. 



ORDER IV. — TONICS. 



Tonics, called also corroborants, are medicines which produce 
a gradual and permanent increase of nervous vigour. It is only, 
however, in certain conditions of disease that they manifest this 
invigorating influence ; as, in a state of health, they often act 
as irritants, or even nauseants. Their local effects are similar 
to their general effects. They exalt the nervous functions of 
the parts to which they are applied, and increase their firmness 
and density. When taken into the stomach they produce a 
twofold corroborant effect, improving the digestive powers by 
their local action, and strengthening the system generally by 
their cerebro-spinal influence. 

Tonics differ from stimulants only in the more permanent 
character of their effects. The more powerful tonics are 
closely allied to the narcotics in their action, producing, in 
overdoses, giddiness, loss of sight and of hearing, convulsions, 
delirium, and even death. And this analogy is further illus- 
trated by the curative powers of tonics in the relief of painful 
and spasmodic diseases, as neuralgia, rheumatism, chorea, and 
epilepsy. 

The articles of this class may be divided into vegetable and 
mineral tonics. The vegetable tonics are characterized by 
bitterness ; and it is said that they owe their bitterness and 
medicinal activity to a principle which has been termed bitter 
extractive. It is doubtful, however, whether any such proxi- 
mate principle has really been obtained. The mineral tonics 
unite astringent with tonic properties ; and the preparations of 
iron produce a further corroborant effect, by increasing the 
red colouring matter of the blood. 

The therapeutic application of tonics comprises a diversified 
range of diseases. They are employed as stomachics in dys- 
pepsia, and as general corroborants in convalescence from 
acute diseases, in chronic affections accompanied by marasmus 
and cachexia, and in typhus and gangrene. But their most 
striking and valuable powers are shown in their febrifuge influ- 



QUASSIA. 101 

ence upon miasmatic diseases. The modus medendi here is ob- 
scure, but the curative agency is undoubtedly due to a power- 
ful impression upon the central organs of the nervous system. 
The anti-neuralgic and antispasmodic properties of tonics have 
already been alluded to. They also enjoy considerable repu- 
tation in the treatment of chronic bowel-complaints, where they 
act by restoring tone to the debilitated intestinal tube ; and, 
on the other hand, they are often useful as laxatives in torpid 
conditions of the alimentary canal. 



VEGETABLE TONICS. 

The vegetable tonics may be arranged into three sections, 
viz. : 1. The pure bitters. 2. The aromatic bitters, which 
contain a stimulant volatile oil, and are aromatic as well as 
tonic. 3. The astringent bitters, which contain tannic and 
gallic acids, and are both astringent and tonic : this group 
contains cinchona, the most powerful and important of the 
vegetable tonics. The bitter principle is found also in many 
medicines belonging to other classes, as rhubarb, aloes, taraxa- 
cum, &c, and gives them tonic properties. 



SIMPLE BITTERS. 

QUASSIA. 

Quassia is the wood of Simaruba excelsa (Nat. Ord. Simaru- 
bacese), a lofty tree of Jamaica and other West Indian islands. 
It is imported from the West Indies in billets of various sizes, 
which are found in the shops in the form of chips or raspings. 
Externally, it is covered with a smooth, brittle bark ; the wood 
is white, but becomes yellowish by exposure. It has no odour, 
but an intensely permanently bitter taste. Water and alcohol 
extract its virtues, which are said to depend on a neutral prin- 
ciple termed quassin. 

The article originally known as Quassia was the root and wood 



102 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of Quassia amara, a shrub of Surinam, but this does not now 
reach our markets. It is thought to have possessed much 
more decided tonic properties than the drug now found in 
commerce. 

Effects and Uses. — Quassia is a mild tonic, free from stimu- 
lant or astringent effects, and is employed principally in dys- 
pepsia, want of appetite, and other stomachic affections. It is 
much used to give additional bitterness to malt liquors. Dose, 
in powder, 3j to 5j, three or four times a day ; but the best 
form of administration is that of infusion (5ij in water Oj), in 
doses of fojss to foiij. An extract (aqueous) is given in the 
dose of gr. v, but it is principally used as an excipient for the 
administration of the mineral tonics. Of the tincture (two 
troy ounces to diluted alcohol Oij), the dose is f5j to fSij- 



SIMARUBA. 

Simaruba is the bark of the root of Simaruba officinalis 
(Nat. Ord. Simarubacese), a tall tree of Jamaica and many 
parts of South America. It occurs in long pieces of various 
sizes, which are mucli rolled or quilled, of a brownish-yellow T 
colour externally, and yellow internally. It contains a bitter 
principle, analogous to quassin, and resembles quassia in its 
medicinal effects. 



C P T I S — G OLDTHREAD. 

Coptis trifolia, or Goldthread (Nat. Ord. Ranunculaceaa), is 
a small, evergreen, herbaceous plant, resembling the strawberry- 
vine, with perennial creeping roots, slender stems, round ter- 
nate leaves, and a single small white flower, which appears 
through the spring till midsummer. It belongs to the northern 
regions of America and Asia, and abounds in swampy places 
in Canada and New England. The parts used are the roots, 
which should be gathered in autumn, and carefully dried. 
They are of a bright-golden colour, and give the name by which 



GENTIAN. 



103 



the plant is commonly known. They contain the alkaloid 
berberina. ' The roots of a variety of coptis, derived from Assam 




in Asia, Coptis teeta, have been introduced into Europe ; they 
possess analogous properties to those of C. trifolia. 

Effects and Uses. — Goldthread is a pure and powerful bitter, 
similar in its effects to quassia, but much more palatable, and 
is a very good stomachic tonic. It is also employed in New 
England as a topical application in aphthous and other ulcera- 
tions of the mouth. It is usually given in the form of tincture 
(a troyounce to diluted alcohol Oj), in the dose of f5j, and of 
infusion (half a troyounce to water Oj) ; these preparations are 
not, however, officinal. 



GENTIAN A — G E N T I A N . 



Gentian is the ROOT" of Gentiana lutea or Yellow Gentian 
(Nat Orel. Gentianacese), a perennial plant of the mountainous 
parts of Central and Southern Europe, growing to the height 



104 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of two or three feet, with broad, ovate, opposite leaves, and 
handsome whorled, yellow flowers. It is imported in cylindri- 
cal branched, twisted pieces, of various sizes, marked by trans- 
verse annular wrinkles and longitudinal furrows. Externally, 
it is grayish brown, internally, brownish-yellow, and of a soft 
spongy texture. Its odour in the fresh state is peculiar and 
disagreeable, but when dried, feeble ; its taste is slightly sweet- 
ish and intensely bitter. Water and alcohol extract its virtues. 
It contains a peculiar oil and acid, pectin, grape sugar, and a 
bitter principle, termed gentianin, (C 40 H 30 O 24 ), which is crys- 
tallizable, soluble in water and alcohol, and ranks with the glu- 
cosides. Other species of gentian are employed as substitutes 
for the yellow gentian. 

Effects and Uses. — Gentian is a pure bitter, without either 
astringency or much aroma. In full doses it is more disposed 
to relax the bowels than the other simple bitters ; and, like 
others of the vegetable tonics, in excessive doses, it is capable 
of producing narcotic effects. It is an admirable stomachic in 
dyspepsia and gastric disorders, and is also used in the various 
forms of constitutional debility. 

Administration. — In the form of potvder, the dose is gr. x to 
5ss. But it is usually given in the form of compound infusion 
(half a troyounce to water f§xiv, with alcohol fgij, and bitter 
orange-peel and coriander, each 5j)> dose foi, 3 or 4 times a 
day ; compound tincture (tinctura Gentiange composita, gentian, 
two troyounces, bitter orange-peel a troyounce, cardamon half 
a troyounce, to diluted alcohol Oij), in the dose of f5j to f5y ; 
extract {aqueous), in the dose of gr. x to 5ss; and fluid extract, 
in the dose of fSss— j. 



FEASER A — A MERICAN COLUMBO. 

The root of Frasera Walteri (Nat. Ord. Gentian acese), an 
elegant plant of our Southern and Western States, ma}' be used 
as a substitute for gentian and columbo. Dose, 5ss-5j ; or an 
infusion (a troyounce to boiling water Oj), may be given. 



SABBATIA. 



105 



SABBATIA. 



Sabbatia angularis, American Centaury, or Centaury (Nat. 
Ord. Gentianacese), is a very common annual indigenous plant, 

Fig. 9. 




with an erect stem, one or two feet high, opposite ovate leaves, 
and numerous terminal flowers of a rich rose-colour, nearly white 
in the centre. It is found in low meadow-grounds or neglected 
fields in most parts of the United States, and flowers in August 
and September. The hekb is officinal, and should be gathered 
while in flower. It has a very bitter taste, and yields its virtues 
to both water and alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — Centaury is a pure bitter, with no as- 
tringency, and very little aroma. It is an excellent stomachic, 
and may be used also as a general corroborant. It is said to 
act as an emmenagogue when given in warm infusion, and, 
like the bitters generally, has had anthelmintic properties 



106 MATERIA MEDICA. 

ascribed to it. The best form of exhibiting it is infusion (a 
troyounce, to boiling water Oj), of which the dose is a wine- 
glassful when cool ; of the powder 5ss to 5j may be given. 

CALUMB A — C OLUMBO. 

Columbo is now generally ascribed by botanists to two 
species of plants known as Jateorrhiza palmata and Jateorrhiza 
Calumba (Nat. Ord. Menispermaceae), designated by some 
writers still under the old name of cocculus palmatus, climb- 
ing plants of Mozambique, on the south-eastern coast of Africa. 
The root is the officinal portion, and is known in Africa under 
the name of Calumb. It consists of fleshy tubers, with numer- 
ous offsets, which are the portions used, the main root being 
too fibrous. They are sliced, strung on cords, and dried in 
the sun ; and are found in the shops in round pieces about a 
quarter of an inch thick, externally of a brown, wrinkled ap- 
pearance, and internally yellow. The odour is slightly aro- 
matic, and the taste very bitter. Owing to the starch which 
is found in columbo, it is liable to be worm-eaten. It contains, 
besides a large proportion of starch, a peculiar azotized sub- 
stance, and two bitter principles, colombin and berberina. 
Water and alcohol take up its virtues ; and, from its liability to 
attract moisture from the air, it should not be kept in the form 
of powder. 

Effects and Uses. — Columbo is a very agreeable demulcent 
tonic, particularly acceptable to the stomach, and hence well 
adapted to the convalescent stages of acute disorders of the 
bowels and of fevers. It is also a good preparation in the 
sickness of pregnant women, and is one of the best of the 
stomachics in all cases where there is unusual delicacy of the 
stomach. In its native country, it is much employed in the 
treatment of dysentery. 

Administration. — The dose of the powder is gr. x to gr. 
xxx. It is best given in the form of infusion (half a troy- 
ounce to boiling water Oj, dose, f§j to foij), which should be 
used at once, as it is liable to spoil. Of the tincture (four troy- 



SERPENTARIA. 107 

ounces to diluted alcohol Oij), f5j to f5iv may be given. 
Columbo is often combined with aromatics, iron, and alkalies, 
and is sometimes added to purgative mixtures. 

Berberina (C 40 H 17 NO 8 ), the alkaloid found in Columbo, is 
widely diffused in the vegetable kingdom, and is obtained from 
numerous plants of the natural orders Berber aceai, Menisper- 
maceoe, and Ranunculacece, as barberry, yellow-root, hydrastis, 
goldthread, and others. It has been employed, in the form of 
muriate and sulphate, as a tonic and febrifuge, in doses of from 
one to ten grains. 

CHIRETTA. 

The herb and root of Agathotes Chirayta (Nat. Ord. Gren- 
tianaceae), an East Indian plant, have been introduced into 
Europe, under the name of Chiretta or Chirayta, where it now 
ranks among the best simple bitters. It contains a peculiar 
bitter neutral substance, termed chiratin, (C 52 H 48 O 30 ) ; in medi- 
cinal properties, it resembles gentian, and may be used in the 
same way. 

XANTHORRIZA — YELLOW-ROOT. 

The ROOT of Xanthorriza Apiifolia (Nat. Ord. Ranuncula- 
cese), an indigenous shrub, of our Southern and Western 
States, is a good simple bitter, which agrees very well with the 
stomach. 

AROMATIC BITTERS. 
SERPENT ARIA. 

The roots of several species of Aristolochia are known 
under the name of Virginia Snakeroot. The most familiar is 
A. serpen taria (Nat. Ord. Aristolochiaceae), an herbaceous in- 
digenous plant, with a perennial root, composed of numerous 
slender fibres, arising from a knotty, brown head, one or more 



108 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



stems, eight or ten inches in height, heart-shaped, pointed, 
yellowish-green leaves, and purple, tubular flowers, springing 



Fiff. 10. 




up close to the root. It grows in our Southern and South- 
eastern states, in shady woods and on hill-sides, flowering in 
May and June; but from the great demand for the roots it has 
become scarce. A. reticulata is a variety found in the South- 
western States. 

Virginia Snakeroot is found in the shops, in tufts of long, 
slender, matted fibres, attached to a knotty, rugged head. 
They are brittle, and of a yellowish-brown colour. The odour 
is aromatic and agreeable ; the taste somewhat pungent, bitter, 
and aromatic. Water and alcohol extract its virtues, which 



CHAMOMILE. 109 

depend on the presence of a volatile oil and a bitter principle. 
The roots of A. reticulata are very commonly substituted for 
those of A. serpentaria, from which they differ only in the 
larger size of their fibres. They are quite equal to the latter, 
and are even thought to contain a larger proportion of volatile 
oil. 

Effects and Uses. — Virginia Snakeroot is a combined stimu- 
lant and tonic, with diuretic or diaphoretic properties, accord- 
ing to the mode of its administration. It is much used in the 
latter stages of fevers, and in other acute diseases, and is fre- 
quently combined with Peruvian bark, in the treatment of 
intermittents. The proper form of administration is that of 
infusion (half a troy ounce to boiling water Oj), in doses of f Sj 
to f§ij, repeated. Of the tincture (four troy ounces to diluted 
alcohol Oij), the dose is f5j to f5ij ; of the fluid extract, f5ss- 
f5j. Huxliams Tincture contains serpentaria. 

ANTHEMIS — CHAMOMILE. 

Anthemis nobilis, or Chamomile [Nat. Ord. Asteraceas), is a 
small, herbaceous, trailing European plant, cultivated exten- 
sively both in Europe and this country. The flowers are 
described by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia as the portion used, but 
the entire heads are really the commercial article. The 
flowers consist of small spheroids, with convex, yellow disks, 
and numerous white, spreading rays. By cultivation they be- 
come double. In Europe the single heads are preferred, as the 
aromatic properties reside in the disks, which are larger in the 
single-flowered wild plants ; but in this country, the cultivated, 
double heads, which are not inferior in tonic virtues, are used. 
Chamomile flowers have a bitter, aromatic taste, and a strong 
peculiar odour, both of which are imparted to water and alcohol. 
They contain a volatile oil, bitter extractive, and a little tannic 
acid. 

Effects and Uses. — Chamomile, in small doses, is a mild, 
agreeable aromatic tonic, and in large doses, acts as an emetic. 
The cold infusion is much employed as a stomachic, and the 



110 MATERIA MEDICA. 

hot infusion is given to aid the operation of emetics. The 
flowers, boiled in warm water, form a good fomentation to in- 
flamed parts. The usual form of administration is the infusion 
(half a troyounce to water Oj). Dose, as a stomachic, f§ij, 
two or three times a day, cold; as an emetic, hot, ad libitum. 

Cotula (Mayweed). Anthemis (or Maruta) cotula, Wild 
chamomile, or Mayweed [Nat. Ord. Asteracese), an herbaceous 
plant, indigenous in Europe, but extensively naturalized in the 
United States, resembles chamomile very closely, both in bo- 
tanical characters and in properties, and is used as a substitute 
for it in domestic practice. 

Matricaria [German Chamomile). The flowers of Matri- 
caria chamomilla (Nat. Ord. Asteracese), an annual European 
plant, possess properties very similar to those of chamomile. 
They are considerably smaller than common chamomile, and 
have a larger proportion of disk florets compared with those of 
the ray. They are not much employed in this country. 

ETTPATORIU M — T HOROUGHWORT. 

Eupatorium perforatum, Boneset, or Thoroughwort (Nat. 
Ord. Asteraceas), is a very common indigenous plant, growing 
in wet grounds in every part of the United States. It has a 
perennial root, with numerous herbaceous stems, from two to 
five feet high, long, narrow leaves, perforated by the stems, and 
numerous white flowers, forming a flattened summit to the plant, 
which appear in August, continuing in bloom till October. The 
leaves and TOPS are the officinal portion. They have a faint 
odour, a strongly bitter taste, are soluble in water or alcohol, 
and contain a peculiar bitter principle, gum, tannic acid, resin, 
salts, and other matters. 

Effects and Uses. — Thoroughwort is a stimulant tonic, dia- 
phoretic, and expectorant, and in large doses proves emetic and 
laxative. It is a good stomachic in dyspepsia, and, from its 
combined corroborant, expectorant, and diaphoretic properties, 



WORMWOOD. 



Ill 



is an excellent remedy in epidemic influenza, and in the latter 
stages of pneumonia and bronchitis. It is also used with good 



Figr. 11. 










effect in rheumatism, and in intermittent, remittent and typhoid 
fevers. It should be given in infusion (a troyounce to boiling 
water Oj), foij of which may be taken cold, as a stomachic, 
three or four times a day, and in freer warm draughts as a dia- 
phoretic. 



ABSINTHIU M — W ORMWOOD. 

The tops and leaves of Artemisia Absinthium, or Worm- 
wood (Nat. Ord. Asteraceae), a European plant, naturalized in 
New England, are ranked among the aromatic bitters, but are 
not now much employed. They may be given in infusion (a 
troyounce to boiling water Oj) — not officinal. 



112 MATERIA MEDICA. 



MAGNOLIA. 

The BARKS of Magnolia glauca, Magnolia acuminata, and 
Magnolia tripetala (Nat. Ord. Magnoliacege), indigenous trees, 
remarkable for the beauty of their foliage, and the size and 
fragrance of their flowers, are officinal, and rank with the aro- 
matic bitters. The barks of the trunk, branches, and root, are 
alike officinal ; but those of the last are the most active. They 
contain a volatile oil, a green resin, and a peculiar crystalliz- 
able bitter principle. The aromatic property is impaired by 
drying, and is lost when the barks are long kept. 

They are used as gentle stimulant tonics and diaphoretics, in 
the low stages of fever, rheumatism, &c. An infusion may be 
given, but the best solvent is diluted alcohol. 



LIRIODENDRO N — T ULIP-TREE BARK. 

The bark of Liriodendron tulipifera, the Tulip-tree, or 
American Poplar (Nat. Orel. Magnoliaceee), the well-known 
pride of the American forest, remarkable for its size, foliage, 
and beautiful tulip-shaped flowers, closely resembles those of 
magnolia in its medicinal properties, but is less aromatic and 
more stimulant. It is said to contain a peculiar principle, 
termed liriodendrin. It may be given in powder, in the dose 
of 3j to 5ij ; and in infusion, decoction, and tincture. 



ANGUSTURA. 

Angustura bark is derived from Galipea officinalis (Nat. Ord. 
Rutacese) a small tree of the district of country bordering on 
the Orinoco river, in South America. Et occurs in pieces of 
various lengths and sizes; sometimes flat, sometimes slightly 
curved, but rarely entirely quilled. Externally, it is" of a 
light-gray colour, and is covered with lichens, with a soft, spongy 
epidermis, which is readily scraped off; internally, the colour is 
yellowish-brown. It has a disagreeable smell, and a bitter aro- 



CANELLA. 113 

matic, somewhat pungent taste. It imparts its virtues to water 
and alcohol, and contains a volatile oil and a bitter principle, 
termed cusparin. The bark of Strychnos nux vomica has been 
sometimes mixed with Angustura bark, and is thence known as 
false angustura bark. 

Effects and Uses. — Angustura bark is a stimulating tonic, 
and in large doses acts on the stomach and bowels. From its 
liability to adulteration with the bark of strychnos nux vomica, 
it has fallen into disuse, and it has no superiority over serpen- 
taria and others of the indigenous aromatic bitters. Dose, in 
poivder, gr. x to 5ss; of the infusion (half a troyounce to boil- 
ing water Oj), f§ij, repeated. 



CASCARILLA. 

# 

This is the bark of Croton Eluteria (Nat. Ord. Euphor- 
biacere), a small tree of the Bahamas and other West India 
islands. It occurs sometimes in the form of small thin frag- 
ments — sometimes in that of rolled pieces, one or two in-ches 
long, occasionally longer, and varying in size from that of a 
quill to that of the little finger. It is usually covered with a 
grayish-white rugous epidermis, and is of a brown colour beneath. 
It has a warm, spicy, and bitter taste, and an aromatic, agreeable 
odour, which is particularly fragrant when it is burned. It 
yields its properties to alcohol, and partially to water; and con- 
tains volatile oil, resin, and a bitter principle, called cascarillin. 

Effects and Uses. — Cascarilla is a very pleasant aromatic 
bitter, causing neither vomiting nor purging, and hence agree- 
ing very well with the stomach. It may be given in powder 
in the dose of 3j to 5ss ; but this is a less agreeable form than 
the infusion (a troyounce to boiling water Oj), of which the 
dose is foij. 

CANELLA. 



This is the bark of Canella alba (Nat. Ord. Meliaceae), a 

ai 

8 



large tree of the West Indies and South America. It comes 



114 MATERIA MEDICA. 

in quilled pieces of a whitish-yellow colour, or in flat fragments, 
which are thicker and darker. It has an aromatic odour, and 
a warm, pungent, aromatic, and somewhat bitter taste. It im- 
parts its virtues to alcohol, and partially to water; and con- 
tains volatile oil, resin, bitter extractive, gum, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — An aromatic tonic, little employed ex- 
cept in combination. Pulvis Aloes et CaneEce (Powder of 
Aloes and Canella) popularly known as hiera piera, consists of 
aloes four parts, canella one part ; dose, gr. x. to 3j. 

ACHILLEA — YARROW. 

Achillea Millefolium, Milfoil, or Yarrow (Nat. Ord. Com- 
posite Senecionidese), a perennial herb, common to the old and 
new continents, growing to the height of twelve or eighteen 
inches, with doubly pinnate, minutely divided leaves, and whitish 
flowers, possesses mild stimulant tonic properties, with some, 
astringency. The leaves and flowering tops are the portion 
to be employed. Of the infusion, made in the proportion of an 
ounce to the pint, a wineglassful or more may be given. It 
yields a volatile oil, which has been used in the dose of 20 or 
30 drops. 

ASTRINGENT BITTERS. 
CINCHONA. 

The name Cinchona (derived from the Countess del Cin- 
chon, wife of a viceroy of Peru) is applied to the bark of dif- 
ferent species of Cinchona (Nat. Ord. Cinchonaceae), large 
trees which grow in the mountainous regions of the western 
portions of South America, from the nineteenth degree of south 
latitude to about the tenth degree of north latitude. Three 
principal varieties of cinchona are known in commerce : Cin- 
chona Flava (Yellow Bark), called in commerce Calisaya 
Bark, derived from Cinchona Calisaya; Cinchona Pallida 
(Pale Bark), called in commerce Loxa and Lima Bark, derived 



CINCHONA. 115 

from Cinchona Condaminea and Cinchona Micrantha ; and Cin- 
chona Rubra {Red Bark), derived from Cinchona Succirubra. 
The Pharmacopoeia now recognizes, however, as officinal the 
barks of all species of the genus Cinchona, which contain at 
least two per cent, of the proper cinchona alkaloids. 

Peruvian Bark is brought to the United States from the 
Pacific ports of South America. It is obtained by stripping 
the trunks and branches of the Cinchona trees during the dry 
season, and is dried by exposure to the sun, during which pro- 
cess the smaller pieces usually become quilled. 

1. The Yellow or Calisaya Bark comes both in quilled and 
flat pieces. The former are from three or four inches to a foot 
and a half long, from a quarter of an inch to two or three 
inches in diameter, and of variable thickness. They have a 
brownish epidermis (with longitudinal wrinkles and trans- 
verse fissures), which possesses none of the virtues of the 
bark. The bark itself is one or two lines thick, compact, of a 
short, fibrous texture, and when broken presents shining points. 
The flat pieces, which are derived from the larger branches and 
trunk, are usually destitute of epidermis, are more roughly 
marked externally, and are of a browner hue than the quilled 
pieces. They are also less compact, less bitter, and of less 
medicinal virtue. The yellow bark is distinguished from the 
other barks by its much more bitter taste ; its comparative 
freedom from astringency ; its brownish-yellow, somewhat 
orange colour, which is still brighter in the powder ; and by 
containing a large proportion of quinia with very little ein- 
chonia. 

2. The Pale Bark comes in cylindrical pieces of variable 
length, sometimes singly, sometimes doubly quilled, from two 
lines to an inch in diameter, and from half a line to two or 
three lines in thickness — the best kinds being about the size of 
a goose-quill. Their exterior surface is rough, marked w T ith 
fissures, and of a grayish colour, owing to adhering lichens. 
Their interior surface is of a cinnamon colour, and, in the finer 
sorts, smooth. The colour of the powder is a pale fawn. The 
taste is moderately bitter, and somewhat astringent ; the odour 



116 MATEEIA MEDICA. 

feeble, but rather aromatic in the powder and decoction. The 
pale barks contain a much larger proportion of cinchonia than 
of quinia ; and, from their yielding little quinia, have fallen 
into disuse in the United States. 

3. The Red Bark usually comes in large, thick, flat pieces ; 
sometimes also in quills from half an inch to two inches in 
diameter. They are covered with a reddish-brown, rugged 
epidermis, beneath which is a dark-red, brittle, and compact 
layer, the interior parts being woody and fibrous, and of a 
lively brownish-red colour. The taste of red bark is bitter and 
astringent ; its odour not different from that of the other barks ; 
its powder is reddish. It contains considerable quantities both 
of quinia and cinchonia. 

Under the name of Carthagena Barks, several common 
varieties of cinchona were long brought to this country from 
the northern Atlantic ports of South America. They were of 
inferior quality, and were therefore not recognized by the 
Pharmacopoeias ; but, since the reduced supply and consequent 
high price of the Calisaya bark, large quantities of very good 
bark have been imported from New Granada, and are now used 
in the manufacture of quinia, under the name of Colombian 
barks. 

Within a few years, the cultivation of several varieties of 
Cinchona trees has been successfully introduced into Southern 
India; and valuable specimens of red bark (the product of C. 
Succirubra), equal to that of South America, have been sent to 
Europe. 

Chemical Constituents. — The most important constituents of 
cinchona are two alkaloid principles, termed quinia and cincho- 
nia, which exist chiefly in combination with an acid called Mnic. 
These alkaloids are found in different proportions in the different 
barks, quinia being obtained from the yellow bark most abun- 
dantly, cinchonia from the pale bark, and the two principles in 
about equal proportion from the red bark. Two other valuable 
alkaloids, quinidia and cinchonidia, are found (also as kinates), 
most abundantly in ike pale and Carthagena barks; but, to a 
certain extent, in all. Other principles found in cinchona are 



CINCHONA. 117 

cincho-tannic acid, colouring matter, kinovic acid, starch, fatty 
matter, kinate of lime, lignin, &c. Gum is found in the pale 
bark, but not in the yellow or red bark. 

Quinia is obtained by heating the sulphate with an alkaline 
solution. QuiNiiE Sulphas [Sulphate of Quinia), is prepared 
in the following manner : Powdered yellow bark is boiled in 
water acidulated with muriatic acid, by which the alkaloid is 
separated from its combination with kinic and other acids, to 
form a soluble muriate. By the addition of lime, this salt is 
decomposed, and quinia precipitated. The precipitate is washed 
with distilled water, and is separated from insoluble impurities 
by digestion in boiling alcohol, which is afterwards distilled oif. 
To the residual brown viscid mass, dissolved in distilled water, 
and heated to the boiling point, sulphuric acid is added, in 
quantity sufficient to dissolve the quinia. The liquor is then 
boiled with animal charcoal, filtered, and set aside to crystallize. 
The alkaloid quinia may be obtained, in the form of fine crys- 
talline needles of a silky lustre, but usually occurs as a loose 
white powder ; it is inodorous, very bitter, sparingly soluble 
in cold water, but somewhat more readily so in hot water, readily 
soluble in alcohol, ether, and the fixed and volatile oils. It 
unites with acids to form salts, the most important of which is 
the officinal salt, the sulphate. Its composition is C 40 H 24 N 2 O 4 . 
Quinia and its salts may be distinguished from all other vege- 
table alkalies and their salts (excepting quinidia), by striking 
an emerald-green colour, when heated first with solution of 
chlorine and then with ammonia. Cinchonia is a white crystal- 
line substance, less bitter than quinia, almost insoluble in cold 
water, very soluble in boiling alcohol, and slightly soluble in 
ether and the fixed and volatile oils. Its composition is 
C 40 H 24 N 2 O 2 . It is distinguishable from quinia by striking a 
white precipitate, when chlorine water and afterwards ammonia 
are added ; with ferrocyanide of potassium, a yellowish-white 
precipitate ensues. Cinchonia being insoluble in ether, while 
quinia is soluble in that menstruum, the latter may by this 
means be readily separated from the former alkaloid. The 
medicinal properties of quinia and cinchonia are analogous, and 



118 MATERIA MEDICA. 

the sulphate of cinchonia is now officinal. Quinidia is isomeric 
with quinia, but more crystallizable and less soluble in ether ; 
its salts strike a white precipitate with solution of iodide of 
potassium. Cinchonidia is isomeric with cinchonia. It is 
usually found mixed with quinidia, the mixture being known as 
commercial quinidia. The commercial sulphate of quinidia 
(which is more soluble in water and alcohol than the sulphate 
of quinia), may be used as a substitute for the latter salt. 

Incompatibles. — The alkalies and alkaline earths precipitate 
the alkaline principles of cinchona; tannic acid, and the tinc- 
ture and compound Solution of iodine, form with them insoluble 
compounds ; solution of arsenite of potassium is also incompatible 
with infusions and decoctions of cinchona. 

Physiological Effects. — The topical effects of cinchona are 
slightly irritant, and, from the tannic acid which it contains, 
astringent. Its constitutional action upon persons in health, 
results in a disordered condition of the stomach, and of the 
vascular and cerebro-spinal systems, as shown by gastro-enteric 
irritation, fever, headache, and giddiness. But, in persons 
suffering from debility, it proves a most energetic stomachic 
and corroborant; and over certain morbid conditions, as mias- 
matic and other fevers, it exercises a control more striking than 
is shown by any other medicinal agent, in the treatment of dis- 
eases. 

31edicinal Uses. — The most important therapeutic employ- 
ment of cinchona is as a febrifuge in the treatment of fevers of 
a miasmatic origin. Its efficacy in these diseases was first made 
known to the world by the Jesuit missionaries in Peru, from 
whom it was called Jesuit's poivder. The type of miasmatic 
fever in which the powers of bark are most strikingly displayed, 
is intermittent ; the non-pernicious and uncomplicated forms of 
which it rarely if ever fails to control. It may be given in 
these cases from the very onset of the attack ; and if, owing to 
gastric irritability, it is rejected by the stomach, it should be 
introduced by the rectum. In remittent fevers, cinchona is 
scarcely less useful than in intermittens ; and most physicians 
who practice in miasmatic districts, now concur in recommend- 



CINCHONA. 119 

ing its early exhibition in these fevers, without waiting for a 
remission. In the pernicious or congestive forms of intermit- 
tent and remittent fevers, the early administration of large 
doses of cinchona or the salts of quinia or cinchona, in combi- 
nation with stimulants, is imperatively demanded ; and the hy- 
podermic injection of the sulphate of quinia may here be neces- 
sary. As a prophylactic against miasmatic fever, the use of 
the preparations of cinchona is very efficacious. In the varieties 
of typhus, including that termed cerebro-spinal meningitis, the 
salts of quinia, in full doses, are generally resorted to, in con- 
junction with abundant alcoholic stimulation and nourishment. 
In yellow fever, the declining stages of typhoid fever, the ma- 
lignant exanthemata, gangrene, malignant erysipelas, carbuncle, 
extensive suppurations, the typhoid forms of diseases generally, 
the hectic of phthisis, acute rheumatism, diarrhoea, dysentery 
and cholera, and various disorders of the nervous system, as 
neuralgia, tetanus, and chorea, cinchona and its preparations 
are constantly employed ; and as they have been found to lessen 
the amount of uric acid and urea in the urine, they have been 
prescribed also in gout. Cinchona is also much used as a sto- 
machic and general tonic, but where gastric susceptibility exists, 
as in convalescence from acute diseases, some of the simple 
bitters are preferable. Topically, cinchona is employed as an 
astringent and antiseptic. 

Administration. — The use of cinchona in poivder, since the 
discovery of sulphate of quinia, has been very much abandoned, 
owing to its bulk and disagreeable taste. When exhibited in 
this form, half a troyounce to an ounce is the dose as a febri- 
fuge, given usually in divided amounts ; as a tonic, 5j- The 
following officinal preparations are employed : decoction (a troy- 
ounce of yellow or red bark to Oj of water, to be boiled for ten 
minutes, and water enough added to make the decotion measure 
a pint; aromatic sulphuric acid foj may be afterwards added), 
dose, foij, repeated ; infusion (a troyounce of yellow or red 
bark to water Oj, to which aromatic sulphuric acid f5j may b,e 
added), dose f§ij repeated ; extract (of yellow bark), dose gr. x 
to gr. xxx, equivalent to 5j of bark ; fluid extract (yellowj, dose, 



120 MATERIA MEDICA. 

f5ij, equal to 5j of bark ; tincture (six troyounces of yellow 
bark to a mixture of three measures of alcohol with one of 
water, Oij), dose, f5j to f5iv ; compound tincture or Huxliams 
tincture (containing red bark four troyounces, bitter orange- 
peel tL-«" >n troyounces, serpentaria three hundred and sixty 
grains, to a mixture of three measures of alcohol with one of 
water, Oijss), dose, f5j to foiv. In prescribing bark, opium or 
port wine is often given with it, when it acts on the bowels. 
It is als-^ r ^ns'onally combined with serpentaria. And, when 
the stomacn will not retain it, it has been used externally in 
the form of cataplasmata, pediluvia, bark jackets, &c, though 
in such cases it may be administered by the rectum, and the 
endermic or even the hypodermic exhibition of the sulphate of 
quinia may be resorted to. 

Quinine Sulphas (Sulphate of Quinia). This salt is pre- 
pared by the process described at p. 117. It occurs in fine, 
silky, rather flexible, needle-shaped crystals (interlaced among 
one another, or grouped in small starlike tufts), which are 
odourless, very bitter, and slightly efflorescent. It is soluble 
in 740 parts of cold and 30 parts of boiling water, readily 
soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in ether, and by the addition 
of sulphuric acid is converted into a salt, which is soluble in 11 
parts of cold water; its cold solution is opalescent. The offici- 
nal sulphate consists of one eq. of base to one of acid, and eight 
eqs. of water ; the more soluble salt is now regarded as a 
bisulphate. Sulphate of quinia is decomposed by the alkalies 
and their carbonates, the alkaline earths, astringent infusions, 
the soluble salts of lead, acetates and tartrates generally, and 
the compound solution of iodine. Various substances are 
mixed as adulterations with the sulphate of quinia. They may 
be detected by adverting to their relative solubility in different 
menstrua, as compared with the sulphate, or by chemical tests. 
Thus, gum and starch are left behind by alcohol ; salicin becomes 
red on contact with sulphuric acid, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — The effects of sulphate of quinia on the 
system are the same as those of Peruvian bark, and, from its 



CINCHONA. 121 

being less apt to disagree with the stomach, it has to a great 
extent superseded the use of the latter. In large doses it pro- 
duces headache, ringing of the ears, and sometimes vertigo, 
amaurosis, deafness, delirium, dilatation of the pupils, and other 
evidences of a powerful action on the cerebro-spinal system. 

Administration. — The ordinary dose of the sulphate of quinia, 
as a febrifuge, is gr. xvi, equal to about Sj of bark, but as 
much as twenty grains, and even more, are often required ; as 
a general tonic, gr. j to gr. vj. It may be given dissolved in 
some aromatic water, by the aid of aromatic sulphuric acid ; 
also as an enema, or hypodermically. Pills of Sulphate of 
Quinia (Pilulce Quinice Sulphatis), are made by beating 
together 24 grains of sulphate of quinia with 14 grains of 
clarified honey into a pilular mass, and dividing into 24 pills. 
Many other salts of quinia than the sulphate have been intro- 
duced into practice, but they possess no advantage over the 
officinal salt. 

Quinn^s Valerianas (Valerianate of Quinia), is obtained 
by dissolving freshly precipitated quinia in diluted valerianic 
acid. It occurs in transparent or white rhomboidal tables, of 
the peculiar repulsive odour of valerianic acid, and an acrid, 
bitter taste. Soluble in alcohol and ether, and partially soluble 
in water. It fulfils the indications of quinia and valerianic 
acid, and is therefore especially useful in nervous disorders. 

Crude Quinia is the impure quinia obtained from the 
manufacturer, before separation from the insoluble impurities. 
It is a soft solid, of resinous aspect, nearly free from bitter- 
ness, and may be given to children in the same doses as the 
sulphate. 

Quinoidia, quinoidine, or amorphous quinia, is a substance 
obtained by precipitation, with an alkaline carbonate, from the 
mother liquor left after the preparation of sulphate of quinia. 
When moderately heated, it appears as a resinous mass, of a 
yellowish-white or brownish colour, which, according to Liebig, 
bears the same relation to ordinary quinia that uncrystalliza- 
ble sugar bears to the crystallizable. The quinia in this pre- 
paration is thought to be converted, by the action of heat, into 



122 MATERIA MEDTCA. 

an isomeric alkaloid, termed quinicia; and by the same action, 
einchonia is converted into an isomeric alkaloid, termed cinclio- 
nicia. It is considered equally efficacious with quinia, but 
requires doses rather larger than the sulphate of quinia, than 
which it is much more economical. 

Cinchonle Sulphas [Sulphate of Cinehonia), is made from 
the mother waters remaining after the crystallization of sul- 
phate of quinia. Being the most soluble of the sulphates of 
the four alkaloids found in bark, it remains in solution after 
the sulphate of quinia, and the mixed sulphate of cinchonidia 
and quinidia, have crystallized out. From the mother waters, 
it is precipitated by solution of soda, then washed with alcohol, 
next reconverted into a sulphate, and boiled with animal char- 
coal to decolourize it. It occurs in short, oblique, shining 
prisms with dihedral summits, of a very bitter teste, more solu- 
ble in water than the sulphate of quinia, readily soluble by 
alcohol, and sparingly so by ether. By the addition of sul- 
phuric acid, it is converted into the more soluble bisulphate. 
It is now admitted to have the same remedial properties as the 
sulphate of quinia, but requires about one-third larger doses. 



CORN US FLORIDA — DOGWOOD. 

Cornus Florida, or Dogwood (Nat. Ord. Cornacese), is an 
indigenous tree found in most parts of the United States, and 
growing in the Middle States to the height of from fifteen to 
twenty feet. Its flowers are remarkable for large four -leaved 
white or pinkish involucres, which appear with us in May. 
The officinal portion is the bark, that of the root being pre- 
ferred. It occurs in pieces of various sizes, more or less rolled, 
of a reddish-gray colour, with occasionally a fawn-coloured 
epidermis. Its odour is slight ; its taste bitter, astringent, and 
slightly aromatic. It yields its virtues to water and alcohol, 
and contains resin, bitter extractive, tannic and gallic acids, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — Dogwood is deservedly esteemed the best 
substitute for cinchona among the native astringent bitters. 



WILLOW. 



123 



It is somewhat stimulant, and not unfrequently disorders the 
stomach. Dose, in powder, 3j to 5j ; of the decoction (a troy- 



Fis:. 12. 




ounce to water Oj), fsij may be given ; the fluid extract con- 
tains Si in f^i. 



SALT X — W I L L O W. 

The baek of Salix alba, or the White Willow (Nat. Ord. 
Salicaceae), is ranked among the astringent bitters. It is little 
employed, however, except in the form of salicin, its active 
principle (C 26 H 18 14 ), which consists of white, slender, silky 
crystals, inodorous, but very bitter, soluble in water and alco- 
hol, but not in ether ; it ranks with, the glucosides. It has 
been used as a substitute for the sulphate of quinia, but it is 
very inferior to it as a febrifuge. As a general tonic, however, 



124 MATERIA MEDICA. 

it is useful, and to be given in the dose of from gr. x to gr. 
xxx. The sulphate of quinia is often adulterated with salicin, 
but the fraud may be detected by the addition of concentrated 
sulphuric acid, which strike a blood-red colour with salicin. 

PRUNUS VIRGINIANA — WILD-CHERRY. 

The wild-cherry has long been known under the name of 
Prunus Virginiana, which is still retained by the Pharmaco- 
poeia. This name, however, belongs to another tree, the choke- 
cherry ; and the wild-cherry is now properly distinguished as 
Cerasus serotina (Nat. Ord. Drupacese). It is a large indige- 
nous tree, attaining a great height and size in the Southwestern 
States, but usually with us about twenty-five to thirty feet 
high. The trunk is covered with a rough blackish bark, 
which detaches itself semicircularly ; the leaves are ovate, 
oblong, and acuminate ; the flowers, which appear in May, are 
white, and are followed by fruit about the size of a pea, of a 
purplish black colour, and a not unpleasant, prussic, bitterish 
taste. The medicinal portion is the bark of the root and tree, 
the former of which is the more active. It is found in the 
shops, in pieces of various lengths and sizes, deprived of the 
epidermis and slightly curved, of a reddish-brown colour, and a 
bitter aromatic taste. 

It contains a bitter principle, resin, starch, and tannic and 
gallic acids, and yields on distillation a volatile oil, nearly 
identical with the oil of bitter almond, which does not pre- 
exist in the bark, but is formed by the action of water on 
amygdalin, through the agency of an albuminous principle 
termed emulsin, as in the bitter almond. The leaves also yield 
this oil. Boiling water impairs the virtues of the bark. 

Effects and Uses. — Wild-cherry bark is tonic, with some 
astringency, and at the same time exercises a sedative influence 
on the nervous and circulatory systems, owing to the hydro- 
cyanic acid, which is developed in it. It is used with excellent 
effect as a sedative corroborant in various forms of pulmonary 
irritation, particularly in the latter stages of pneumonia, and 



PEPSINE. 125 

in the hectic of phthisis. It is also a useful stomachic and tonic 
in a variety of cases. The proper form of administration is 
the infusion (half a troyounce to cold water Oj), in the dose of 
f§ij twice or thrice daily. Of the fluid extract (of which a 
fluidounce represents an ounce of the bark), the dose is f5j-ij- 
The syrup is made by percolating five troyounces of the 
coarsely powdered bark with water till a pint of filtered liquor 
is obtained, and afterwards adding twenty-eight troyounces of 
sugar ; it is an agreeable preparation ; dose, f§ss. 

NECTANDRA. 

The bark of Nectandra Rodiei {Nat. Ord. Lauracese), the 
Greenheart tree, a large tree of Guiana, and the neighbouring 
countries of South America, has, within a few years, been 
introduced into medicine, under the name of bebeeru bark. It 
occurs in large, flat, heavy pieces, one, to two feet long, from 
tw r o to six inches broad, and three or four lines thick, of a 
grayish-brown colour on its outer surface, and a dark cinnamon 
on the inner. It has an intensely bitter, somewhat astringent 
taste, and contains tannic acid, resin, gum, &c, and two alka- 
loids, which have been isolated, termed bebeerina (C 18 H 21 3 N), 
and nectandra (C 20 H 23 O 4 N). Bebeeru bark is employed as a 
febrifuge and tonic in South America, and the sulphate of 
bebeerina has been used in Europe and this country with some 
success in the treatment of intermittent fevers. The full dose 
is S)-^. 

The rhizome of Geum rivale, or Water Avens, and the ROOT 
of Spiraea tomentosa, or Hardhack {Nat Ord. Rosacea), and the 
bark of Prinos verticillatus, or Black Alder {Nat Ord. Aqui- 
folacese), are indigenous astringent tonics of considerable power. 

PEPSINE. 

In connection with the subject of stomachic tonics, this article 
is entitled to brief mention. It is prepared from the rennets 



126 MATERIA MEDICA. 

either of the calf, sheep, or pig, taken from the animal as soon 
as killed. These are washed under a thin stream of water. 
The internal memhranes are then carefully scraped off, and 
macerated in water for two hours at a temperature of 59° F. ? 
and then strained through a coarse cloth. The pepsine in the 
solution is then precipitated by acetate of lead, allowed to set- 
tle, and the supernatant liquid poured off; a current of sul- 
phuretted hydrogen is passed through the semi-liquid deposit, 
which precipitates the lead in the form of sulphuret. The pure 
pepsine remains in solution, which is then filtered, and evapo- 
rated to dryness at a uniform temperature of 113° F. Pepsine 
is now a good deal used in dyspepsia, and may be given in doses 
of 15 grains before each meal, suspended in syrup of orange- 
peel or other syrup, to disguise its disagreeable taste. It has 
been applied externally, in strong solution, to dissolve the exu- 
dation of diphtheria. 

MINERAL TONICS. 
FERRI PR SEPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF IRON". 

The preparations of Iron (Ferrum), termed Ferriiginea, 
Chalybeates, and Martial preparations, are the most important 
of the mineral tonics. Besides their local tonic-astringent effect 
and their general corroborant action on the cerebro-spinal sys- 
tem, which they possess in common with the other mineral 
tonics, they exercise a restorative influence on the composition 
of the blood, by increasing the number of its colouring parti- 
cles, and the amount of its solid constituents. Their effects are 
best observed in conditions of the system in which there is 
a want of these elements of the blood. Under the use of 
chalybeates in such cases, while the digestive functions are pro- 
moted, the pulse becomes fuller and stronger, the skin assumes 
a healthy tint, the lips and cheeks become more florid, the tem- 
perature of the body is increased, and the muscular strength is 
greatly invigorated. On the other hand, the administration of 
the ferruginous preparations in health, or too long continued, 



PREPARATIONS OF IRON. 127 

produces symptoms of plethora, vascular excitement, and a 
tendency to congestion and hemorrhage. 

The diseases in which chalybeates are most serviceable are 
those which depend on a deficiency of the red corpuscles of the 
blood, as the various forms of ancemia, particularly where this 
is connected with irregularity of the uterine functions ; also, 
scrofula, tuberculosis, and cachetic states of the system, 
characterized by a pale flabby condition of the solids. Many 
forms of nervous disorder, as neuralgia, chorea, hysteria, and 
epilepsy, are very decidedly controlled by the preparations of 
iron, and they probably constitute the best remedies in these 
affections, when attended with anaemia. Several of the prepa- 
rations of iron are also much employed both as stomachics and 
astringents. 

The following are the officinal preparations of iron : 

Ferrum Redactum (Reduced Iron). Metallic iron is ob- 
tained for medicinal purposes in the form of an impalpable 
powder, by reducing the sesquioxide (officinally subcarbonate) 
by passing a stream of hydrogen gas over it. It is a light, 
tasteless, insoluble iron-gray powder, and should be kept in a 
well-stoppered bottle, owing to its great liability to oxidation. 
This preparation, sometimes called Quevenne's Iron, is a mild 
chalybeate, and is a favourite prescription with many practi- 
tioners, in the treatment of chlorosis and other varieties of 
angemia. Dose, gr. v to gr. x three times a day, in the form of 
pill, made with sugar and gum; it is sometimes prepared with 
chocolate in the form of lozenges. 

Ferri Oxidum Hydratum (Hydrated Oxide of Iron). This 
preparation (Fe 2 3 +2HO) is made by precipitating the sesqui- 
oxide from its combination in any tersalt of iron by means of 
ammonia. Officinally, the tersulphate of iron is employed for 
this purpose. When dry it is a reddish-brown powder, and is 
not considered an eligible preparation for medicinal use. It is 
furnished in the form of a soft, moist, reddish-brown magma, 
for use as an antidote to arsenious acid. 

Ferri Oxidum Saccharatum. The Saceharated Oxide of 
Iron is not officinal, but has lately been introduced as a chaly- 



128 MATERIA MEDICA. 

beate, and also as an antidote to arsenious acid. It is prepared 
by dissolving iron wire in nitric acid, adding sugar, and after- 
wards sugar dissolved in water of ammonia, and finally pre- 
cipitating with alcohol and again mixing with sugar. It is a 
dark-brown inodorous, tasteless powder, readily soluble in 
water and diluted alcohol (C 12 H 9 9 -f-2Fe 2 3 -|-6HO, contain- 
ing 43.59 pr. ct. Fe 2 3 ). Dose, gr. v to gr. xxx three times a 
day. 

Ferri Subcarbonas (Subcarbonate of Iron). This salt is 
obtained by the double reaction of solutions of sulphate of iron 
and carbonate of sodium. It is at first a white precipitate ; 
but by exposure to the air it becomes greenish, and afterwards 
rust-colored, being converted nearly entirely into the sesqui- 
oxide by the absorption of oxygen, and the evolution of carbo- 
nic acid. It has a disagreeable, slightly styptic taste, is inso- 
luble in water, but readily dissolves in hydrochloric and sulphu- 
ric acids, and carbonic acid water. It is one of the most val- 
uable of the ferruginous compounds, free from local irritation, 
and readily dissolved in the fluids of the stomach ; and is much 
employed in chlorosis, chorea, neuralgia, and even pertussis and 
tetanus. Dose, gr. v to gr. xxx, three times a day. 

Trocldsci Ferri Sub carbon at is [Troches of Subcarbonate of 
Iron), are made with subcarbonate of iron five troyounces, 
vanilla thirty grains, sugar fifteen troyounces, and a sufficient 
quantity of mucilage of tragacanth — the mass to be divided 
into 480 troches ; each lozenge contains five grains of the sub- 
carbonate. 

JEmplastrum Ferri [Plaster of Iron), is made with subcarbo- 
nate of iron three troyounces, lead-plaster twenty-four troy- 
ounces, and Burgundy pitch six troyounces. 

Pilula Ferri Carbonates (Pill of Carbonate of Iron). — 
Vallet's Ferruginous Pill. To protect the carbonate of iron 
from oxidation, it is prepared (as in the process last described) 
by dissolving the reacting salts in w T eak syrup instead of water : 
honey and sugar being afterwards added, to preserve it unal- 
tered and bring it to the pilular consistence. This preparation, 
from its unchangeableness, is preferred to the ordinary subcar- 



PREPARATIONS OF IRON. 129 

bonate, and is one of the most popular of the chalybeates. It 
contains nearly half its weight of carbonate of the protoxide of 
iron. From five to twenty grains of the pilular mass may be 
taken in divided doses through the day. 

Mistura Ferri Composita (Compound Mixture of Iron), is a 
mixture of the carbonate of iron (prepared by the reaction of 
sulphate of iron twenty grains, and carbonate of potassium 
twenty-five grains), with myrrh sixty grains, spirit of lavender 
half a fluidounce, and rose-water seven fluidounces and a half, 
and sugar sixty grains to resist oxidation. It is a favourite 
chalybeate in chlorosis and amenorrhea. Dose, f§j to f§ij, 
three times a day. 

Pilulce Ferri Composite^ (Compound Pills of Iron), are pre- 
pared with carbonate of sodium and sulphate of iron each 
eighteen grains, myrrh thirty-six grains, and syrup, the mass to 
be divided into twenty-four pills. Dose, from two to six pills 
three times a day. Both these preparations should be made only 
as wanted for use. 

Ferri Sulphas (Sulphate of Iron), known, in its impure 
state, as green vitriol or copperas, is prepared for medicinal use 
by dissolving iron wire in diluted sulphuric acid, with heat. It 
is a sulphate of the protoxide (FeO,S0 3 +7HO), and occurs in 
transparent, pale bluish-green crystals, of an acrid styptic taste, 
soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. By exposure to the 
air, they effloresce, absorb oxygen, and become yellowish-white, 
from the formation of sulphate of the sesquioxide. When 
heated to 212°, they give out six of their seven equivalents of 
water, and are converted into a grayish-white mass, known as the 
dried sulphate. Sulphate of iron is one of the most active of the 
ferruginous preparations, but its local effects are powerfully as- 
tringent, and in a concentrated form it acts as an irritant 
poison. It is preferred to other chalybeates, where there is 
much relaxation of the solids, with excessive discharges ; but it 
is not so well adapted to long-continued use, on account of its 
local irritant action. Topically, it is employed in substance 
and solution, as a styptic and astringent. Dose, gr. j to gr. v, 

9 



130 MATERIA MEDICA. 

in pill; of the dried sulphate (ferri sulphas exsiccata), gr. ss 
to gr. iij. 

Liquor Ferri Tersulphatis (Solution of Tersulphate of 
Iron). This preparation is made by dissolving 12 troy ounces 
of the sulphate (of the protoxide) of iron in a mixture of 2 
troyounces and 60 grains of sulphuric and a troyounce and 360 
grains of nitric acid, with water enough to make a pint and a 
half of solution. The nitric acid furnishes oxygen to the pro- 
toxide of iron which converts it into a sesquioxide, and the sul- 
phuric acid gives the additional acid required to saturate the 
sesquioxide. (It is Fe 2 3 3S0 3 ). This solution is a clear, red- 
dish-brown liquid, nearly devoid of odour, and of a sour, very 
styptic, and somewhat acrid taste. Its chief use is in making 
the sesquioxide of iron, and it should be kept on hand, for the 
preparation of the hydrated oxide of iron, as an antidote for 
arsenious acid. It may be used as a styptic, but for this 
purpose it is inferior to the next preparation. 

Liquor Ferri Subsulphatis (Solution of Subsulphate of 
Iron). This solution, known as MonseVs Solution, is made in 
the same way as the last preparation, except that only half the 
amount of sulphuric acid is used ; the sesquioxide of iron 
is therefore only partially saturated, and a subsalt results 
(2Fe 2 3 5S0 3 ). It has a syrupy consistence, a ruby-red colour, 
is inodorous, and has a very astringent but not acrid taste. 
It is a less irritant salt than the tersulphate, and may be used 
internally, in hemorrhage from the stomach and bowels, in the 
dose of from five to fifteen grains. Externally, it is one of the 
most efficacious styptics we can employ, and has been injected 
into varicose veins with success for the cure of varicose ulcers. 
Diluted with water, it is a good local application to inflamed 
mucous surfaces. 

Ferri Chloridum (Chloride of Iron). This salt, which is 
the sesquichloride (Fe 2 Cl 3 ), is made by heating iron wire with 
muriatic acid (by which the protochloride is formed), and after- 
wards converting the protochloride into the sesquichloride by 
heating it with muriatic and nitric acids. It occurs in frag- 
ments of a crystalline structure, an orange-yellow colour, in- 



PREPARATIONS OF IRON. 131 

odorous, of a strong chalybeate, styptic taste, deliquescent, 
and wholly soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. Internally, it 
is used chiefly in the form of the tincture. Externally, it is 
applied as a styptic, and in solution, of various strengths, as an 
astringent. One part, gradually added to six parts of collodion, 
forms a yellowish-red, limpid liquid, of valuable styptic pro- 
perties. 

Liquor Ferri Chloridi (Solution of Chloride of Iron), is 
prepared by dissolving iron wire (three troyounces) in muriatic 
acid (eleven troyounces), heating to the boiling point, then heat- 
ing the liquid, after filtration, with muriatic acid (six troyounces 
and a half) and nitric acid (a troyounce and a half), and after- 
wards adding distilled water enough to make a solution measur- 
ing a pint. A reddish-brown liquid, having an acid and. 
strongly styptic taste, and sp. gr. 1.355. It may used inter- 
nally, for the purposes of the chloride, in doses of TT|jj-vi, 
diluted, and externally as a styptic. 

Tinctura Ferri Chloridi (Tincture of the Chloride of Iron), 
is made by mixing one part of Solution of Chloride of Iron 
with three parts of alcohol. It is a tincture of the sesquichlo- 
ride, though there is probably some reaction between the acid 
and alcohol, as the preparation has an ethereal odour. It is of 
a reddish-brown colour, and has a sour, styptic taste. It is one 
of the most effective of the chalybeates, acting locally as an 
energetic astringent and styptic, and, in large doses, as an ir- 
ritant. Its indications, both general and topical, are very 
analogous to those of the sulphate, with the addition of some 
specific action on the urino-genital apparatus, which renders it 
applicable to the treatment of affections of these organs. 
Dose, XX\x to H|xxx, gradually increased to f5j or f5ij, and 
taken in some mild diluent. 

Ferri Iodidum (Iodide of Iron). This salt is the i^rotiodide 
of iron (Fel), and is made by the addition of iron filings to a 
mixture of iodine in distilled water. By evaporation, with as 
little contact of air as possible, green tabular crystals are ob- 
tained, of a styptic taste, volatile, deliquescent, and very soluble 
in both water and alcohol. But, by exposure to the air, the 



132 MATERIA MEDICA. 

protiodide of iron undergoes decomposition : a portion of the 
iron parting with its iodine, and becoming oxidized. Hence, 
the salt is hardly fit for medicinal use, unless protected from 
decomposition, as in the officinal 

Syrupus Ferri Iodidi (Syrup of Iodide of Iron), which is 
prepared bj mixing iodine (2 troy ounces) and iron wire (300 
grains) in distilled water (3 fluidounces), and shaking the mix- 
ture until the solution has acquired a green colour. Into this 
solution, a pint of syrup, heated to 212°, is to be filtered, and, 
when the liquid has cooled, sufficient syrup is to be added 
to make the whole measure 20 fluidounces. It must be kept in 
well-stoppered two-ounce vials. It is a transparent liquid, of a 
pale-green colour, and furnishes an excellent alterative tonic, 
combining the effects of iodine and of iron, and particularly 
applicable to the treatment of scrofula, visceral engorgements, 
phthisis, &c. Dose, 20 to 40 drops, three times a day. 

Pilules Ferri Iodidi (Pills of Iodide of Iron), are made with 
iodine, iron wire, reduced iron, sugar, gum arabic, liquorice 
root, liquorice, and an ethereal solution of balsam of Tolu. They 
keep very well. Each pill contains about one grain of iodide 
of iron, and one-fourth of a grain of reduced iron. 

Ferri et Potassii Tartras (Tartrate of Iron and Potassium) 
(Fe 2 O 3 ,KO,C 8 H 4 O 10 +HO), is prepared by the addition of hydra- 
ted oxide of iron to a mixture of bitartrate of potassium in dis- 
tilled water. It occurs in transparent scales of a ruby-red 
colour, which are wholly soluble in water. The tartaric acid 
and potash, in combination in this preparation, render it less 
constipating than the other chalybeates ; and, from its agreea- 
ble taste, it is adapted to the diseases of childhood. It is, more- 
over, not incompatible with alkalies. Dose, gr. x to 5ss. 

Ferri Phosphas (Phosphate of Iron), is obtained by the 
double reaction of solutions of sulphate of iron and phosphate 
of sodium, and is a phosphate of the protoxide (3FeO,P0 5 ). It 
is a bright, slate-coloured powder, insoluble in water, but solu- 
ble in the mineral acids ; by exposure to the air it absorbs 
oxygen, with the production of sesquioxide of iron, and ac- 
quires a blue colour. Dose, gr. v. to gr. x. 



PREPARATIONS OF IRON. 133 

Ferri Pyrophosphas {Pyrophosphate of Iron), is a mixture 
of pyrophosphate of the sesquioxide of iron (2Fe 2 3 ,3P0 5 ), and 
of citrate of ammonium. It occurs in apple-green scales, of 
an acid, slightly saline taste, and is very soluble in water. A 
good chalybeate. Dose, grs. ij-v. Given also as a syrup. 

Ferri Citras (Citrate of Iron), may be prepared by the ad- 
dition of hydrated oxide of iron to a solution of citric acid. It 
is a citrate of the sesquioxide (Fe 2 O s ,C l2 lI 5 O u ), and occurs in 
thin, transparent pieces, of a garnet-red colour, with a mild, 
acid, chalybeate taste, slowly soluble in cold water, but readily 
soluble in boiling water. Dose, gr. v to gr. x. It is officinal 
also in the form of solution of citrate of iron (liquor ferri 
citratis), a deep reddish-brown liquid, given in doses of 10 to 
20 drops ; and it is by evaporating this solution that the solid 
citrate is obtained. 

Liquor Ferri Nitratis (Solution of Nitrate of Iron), is 
prepared by the gradual addition of diluted nitric acid to an 
excess of iron wire. It is a ternitrate of the sesquioxide of 
iron (Fe 2 3 ,3N0 5 ), and is a pale, amber-coloured liquid, with 
a strong, astringent, acid taste. It is tonic and astringent, 
agreeing very well with the stomach, and is employed in the 
treatment of chronic diarrhoea, hgematemesis, hemorrhage from 
the bowels, and uterine hemorrhage, particularly when anaemic 
symptoms are present. Dose, gtt. x to gtt. xx, two or three 
times a day, in dilution. 

Ferrum Ammoniatum (Ammoniated Iron), is prepared by 
evaporating a solution of sesquichloride of iron and chloride of 
ammonium. It is a mechanical mixture of these salts, and is of 
an orange-red colour, wholly soluble in water and diluted alco- 
hol. It contains a small and variable quantity of iron ; but is 
considered a valuable deobstruent in glandular swellings, and in 
large doses is aperient. It is not now officinal. Dose, gr. iv 
to gr. xij, or more. 

Ferri Hypophosphis (Hypophosphite of Iron) (Fe 2 3 ,2HO, 
3PO), is obtained by the reaction of a solution of hypophosphite 
of sodium or ammonium with solution of tersulphate of iron. It 
is a white, amorphous powder, insoluble in cold water, soluble in 



134 MATERIA MEDICA. 

hydrochloric acid, incompatible with the soluble salts of mer- 
cury and silver, but has the advantage of not being decomposed 
by the cincho-tannic acid of cinchona. This is a good chaly- 
beate in diseases of degeneration of the nervous tissue, and has 
been also given in phthisis ; other hypophosphites are combined 
with it. Dose, gr. x-xxx, three times a day. 

Ferri Oxalas (Oxalate of Iron) (FeO,C 2 3 -f 4HO), is made 
by the reaction of solutions of oxalic acid and sulphate of iron. 
It occurs as a lemon-yellow, crystalline powder, almost desti- 
tute of taste, slightly soluble in water, but easily acted upon by 
the dilute acids, and decomposed by the alkalies and their car- 
bonates. This chalybeate is of recent introduction, and has the 
advantage of being well borne by the stomach, of being readily 
absorbed, while it is nearly destitute of astringency, and not 
disposed to change like the proto-salts generally. Dose, gr. 
ij-iij, in pill, three times a day. 

Ferri Ferrocyanidum (Ferrocyanide of Iron) (Fe 4 Cfy 3 ), or 
Pure Prussian Blue, is obtained by the action of ferrocyanide 
of potassium on solution of tersulphate of iron. It is of a 
rich dark-blue colour, without smell or taste, and is insoluble in 
water, alcohol, and the dilute mineral acids. Its effects on the 
economy in health are not very striking ; but it has been used 
both as an antiperiodic tonic and in the treatment of neuralgia, 
chorea, &c. Dose, gr. v, three or four times a day. 

Ferri Lactas (Lactate of Iron), is made by mixing diluted 
lactic acid with iron filings. It is a lactate of the protoxide 
(FeO,C 6 H 5 5 -f-3HO), and occurs in greenish-white crystalline 
crusts, or grains, of a mild, sweetish, ferruginous taste, spa- 
ringly soluble in water, and insoluble in alcohol. Used in chlo- 
rosis, and has a marked effect in increasing the appetite. Dose, 
gr. x-xx, in pill, lozenge, or syrup. 

Ferri et Quinia Citras (Citrate of Iron and Quinia). 
This salt is prepared by precipitating quinia from the sulphate 
by ammonia, and afterwards dissolving it in a hot solution of 
citrate of iron. As found in the shops, it is probably a mixture 
of citrate of sesquioxide of iron, with a variable proportion of 
citrate of iron and quinia. It occurs in thin, transparent 



PREPARATIONS OF IRON. 135 

scales, of a reddish or yellowish-brown colour, with a tint of 
green, not very soluble in w T ater, and of a ferruginous, mod- 
erately bitter taste. It combines the virtues of its two bases, 
and is thought to have an especial agency in diminishing the 
formation of urea by the kidneys, whence its use in uraemia. 

Ferri et Ammonii Citras (Citrate of Iron and Ammo- 
nium), is made by adding water of ammonia (6 fluidounces) to 
solution of citrate of iron (a pint), and evaporating. It occurs 
in the form of garnet-red, translucent scales, of a slightly ferru- 
ginous taste, and is readily soluble in w T ater ; it has antacid 
properties. Dose, gr. v-x. 

Ferri et Strychnia Citras (Citrate of Iron and Strychnia), 
is made by mixing a solution of strychnia and citric acid (each 
5 grains), in a fluidrachm of distilled water, with a solution of 
citrate of iron and ammonium (500 grains), in a fluidounce of 
water, and evaporating. It occurs in garnet-red scales, of a 
bitter, ferruginous taste, readily soluble in water. An excellent 
tonic — dose, gr. ij-iij, two or three times a day. 

Ferri et Ammonii Sulphas (Sulphate of Iron and Am- 
monium), (Fe 2 3 ,3S0 3 + NH 4 0,S0 3 + 24HO). This salt, called 
also ammonioferric alum, is made by adding sulphate of am- 
monium to the hot solution of tersulphate of iron. It occurs in 
octohedral cystals, of a pale-violet colour, and sour astringent 
taste, efflorescent, and very soluble in water. Used in 
diarrhoea and chronic dysentery. Dose, gr. v-xv, two or three 
times a day. 

Ferri et Ammonii Tartras (Tartrate of Iron and Am- 
monium) (Fe 2 3 ,NH 4 + C 8 H 4 O 10 ), occurs in transparent, garnet- 
red scales, of a sweetish taste, soluble in water, insoluble in 
alcohol and ether. A mild chalybeate. Dose, gr. x-xxx. 

Various other combinations of iron have been from time to 
time introduced into the practice of medicine ; but they are 
needlessly multiplied. The arseniate, acetate, bromide, tannate, 
and valerianate, are recommended by different therapeutists. 



136 MATERIA MEDICA. 

CUPRI PRiEPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF COPPER. 

Metallic copper is inert. The salts of copper act locally as 
caustics, irritants, and astringents. When exhibited in small 
doses, they exert a corroborant influence over the cerebro- 
spinal system, and are employed to fulfil the indications to 
which tonics are applicable, as in the cure of ague, neuralgia, 
epilepsy, &c. In larger doses, they act as emetics ; and, in 
excessive doses, they produce gastro-intestinal inflammation, 
and disorder of the nervous system. They are employed thera- 
peutically, both as external and internal remedies ; externally, 
as stimulants, astringents, styptics, and caustics ; internally, as 
tonics, astringents, and emetics. In cases of poisoning from 
the cupreous compounds, the best antidote is albumen, as white 
of eggs, milk, wheaten flour. The ferrocyanide of potassium is 
also very efficacious, forming with the cupreous compound an 
insoluble ferrocyanide of copper. This salt (which throws 
down a mahogany-coloured precipitate), and ammonia (which 
strikes an azure-blue colour), are tests for the soluble salts of 
copper. 

Cupri Sulphas {Sulphate of Copper). This salt, known 
as blue vitriol, is obtained by roasting the native sulphuret, or 
by combining the oxide of copper and sulphuric acid. It is 
a sulphate of the protoxide (CuO,S0 3 + 5HO). It occurs in 
fine, prismatic, blue crystals, which, by exposure to the air, 
effloresce slightly, and become covered with a greenish-white 
powder. It has a styptic, metallic taste, is entirely soluble in 
water, but insoluble in alcohol. It is employed as a tonic and 
nervine. It is an excellent remedy in obstinate intermittent 
fever, neuralgia, and essential nervous diseases, in doses of gr. 
\ to gr. j, or more, in pill, repeated so as not to occasion 
vomiting. As an astringent, it may be given in the same 
doses, and will be found extremely valuable in the treatment of 
chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, and chronic catarrh with pro- 
fuse secretion. As an emetic, the dose is gr. iij to gr. v. Ex- 
ternally, it is used as an escharotic to fungous granulations, 
and in solution to arrest hemorrhages, mucous discharges, &c. 



PREPARATIONS OF ZINC. 137 

Cuprum Ammoniatum (Ammoniated Copper) is made by 
rubbing together sulphate of copper and carbonate of ammo- 
nium. It is probably a double compound of cuprate of 
ammonium and sulphate of ammonium (NH 3 ,S0 3 -f-NH 3 ,CuO), 
and has a deep azure-blue colour, a styptic, metallic taste, and 
an ammoniacal odour. Its action is very similar to that of 
sulphate of copper ; but it is used principally as an antispas- 
modic tonic in nervous disorders, — epilepsy, chorea, hysteria, 
spasmodic asthma, &c. Dose, gr. J, gradually increased. 

Cupri Subacetas (Subacetate of Copper), or Verdigris, 
(2CuO,C 4 H 3 3 ), occurs in pale, bluish-green or green masses or 
powder. The dose is gr. J- to gr. \ ; but it is a powerful poison 
in an overdose, and hence is rarely given as a tonic. The pow- 
der is used as an escharotic, and an ointment is used. 

ZINCI PRiEPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF ZINC. 

Zinc in its metallic state is inert. Its compounds are very 
analogous in their effects on the system to those of copper, but 
are less energetic. They are employed topically as caustics, 
astringents, and desiccants ; and internally as tonics and anti- 
spasmodics, and in large doses, as emetics. In cases of poison- 
ing (which are, however, very uncommon), demulcents and 
opiates are to be administered. 

Zinci Sulphas {Sulphate of Zinc), or White Vitriol, is pre- 
pared by dissolving zinc in diluted sulphuric acid. It occurs 
in small, colourless, transparent, prismatic crystals, resembling 
those of sulphate of magnesium (ZnO,S0 3 +7HO). They have 
a metallic, astringent taste, are soluble in water, and insoluble 
in alcohol, and, like the soluble salts of zinc generally throw 
down white precipitates with ferrocyanide of potassium and 
hydrosulphate of ammonium. Dose, as a tonic, antispasmodic, 
and astringent, gr. j to gr. v ; as an emetic, it is the promptest 
and safest that can be given in cases of narcotic poisoning, in 
the dose of gr. x to gr. xx. Externally, it is much used as a 
caustic, and in solution as an application to inflamed mucous 
membranes, in the strength of gr. j or ij to f§ss of water. 



138 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Zinci Oxidum (Oxide of Zinc) is made by roasting zinc in 
the air. This is an impure form, known as Commercial Oxide 
of Zinc (Zinci Oxidum Venale), sometimes called tutty. A 
purer form is obtained by exposing precipitated carbonate of 
zinc to heat, which expels the carbonic acid and water. It is 
a yellowish-white powder (ZnO), insoluble in water, but solu- 
ble in diluted sulphuric and chlorohydric acids. It has been 
given as an antispasmodic tonic, in doses of gr. ij to iij, grad- 
ually increased to gr. viij or x, and is highly esteemed in the 
treatment of epilepsy ; but it is chiefly used externally as a 
dusting powder, or in the form of ointment (80 grains to oint- 
ment of benzoin 400 grains). 

Zinci Acetas (Acetate of Zinc) is made by heating commer- 
cial oxide of zinc in a solution of acetic acid and' distilled water, 
and occurs in white micaceous crystals (ZnO,C 4 H 3 3 THO), 
very soluble in water, and efflorescent in a dry air. It may be 
given internally as a tonic antispasmodic, in the dose of gr. j 
or ij, gradually increased ; but it is chiefly used as a topical 
astringent in ophthalmia, gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea, &c, in the 
proportion of gr. ij to gr. vj, or more, to an ounce of water. 

Zinci Carbonas Prjecipitata (Precipitated Carbonate of 
Zinc), is obtained by the double reaction of solutions of sul- 
phate of zinc and carbonate of sodium. It is a soft, white 
powder (ZnO,3C0 2 +6HO), similar in its action to the oxide, 
but is chiefly used as a dusting powder, and to make a mild 
astringent and desiccant cerate (a troyounce to ointment five 
troyounces). 

Calamina PRiEPARATA (Prepared Calamine), obtained by 
heat from calamine, the native impure carbonate of zinc, is a 
pinkish powder, used as a desiccant, and in the form of a cerate, 
called Turner's cerate. Calamine is so frequently adulterated 
that it is now dismissed from the Pharmacopoeia, though still 
much used. 

Liquor Zinci Chloridi (Solution, of Chloride of Zinc), is 
prepared by dissolving zinc (6 troyounces), in muriatic acid, 
then adding nitric acid (150 grains), and evaporating to dry- 
ness ; this is dissolved in distilled water (5 fluid ounces), with 



PREPARATIONS OF SILVER. 139 

the addition of precipitated carbonate of zinc (150 grains), and, 
after filtration, enough distilled water is added to make the 
liquid measure a pint. The evaporation of this solution yields 

Zinci Chloridum [Chloride of Zinc) (ZnCl), a whitish- 
gray, semitransparent, deliquescent mass, having the softness 
of wax, and soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. It has 
been employed internally in doses of gr. j or ij, as an anti- 
spasmodic tonic in chorea, epilepsy, and neuralgia. Its local 
action is that of a powerful caustic, and it is one of the best 
escharotics that can be exhibited, to produce healthy granula- 
tions in malignant or indolent ulcers, especially in lupus. It 
may be used as a lotion in the strength of gr. ij to fsj of water, 
or dissolved in a little alcohol, or in the form of paste, made 
with one part of the salt to two or four of flour. A solution 
of the chloride of zinc is employed as an antiseptic, and is also 
injected into the bloodvessels of anatomical subjects to preserve 
them for dissection. 

Zinci Iodldum (Iodide of Zinc) (Znl), is made by digesting 
an excess of zinc with iodine diffused in water. It occurs in 
the form of a white deliquescent mass, or of fine needles, of a 
metallic styptic taste, very soluble in water. It has been used 
internally, as a tonic, antispasmodic, and astringent, in doses 
of gr. i-ij, best exhibited in the form of syrup. Externally, it 
is a most valuable local stimulant and escharotic, equal if not 
superior in effect to the chloride, and, although not officinal, is 
much used. 

Zinci Valerianas (Valerianate of Zinc) (ZnO,C 10 H 9 O 2 ), is 
prepared by the double reaction of valerianate of sodium and 
sulphate of zinc. It occurs in white, pearly scales, having a 
faint odour of valerianic acid, and a metallic styptic taste. 
It dissolves in 160 parts of water and 60 of alcohol. Used in 
epilepsy and nervous affections, in the dose of one or two grains, 
repeated several times a day. 

ARGENTI PR.EPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF SILVER. 

In the metallic state, silver is wholly inert. The only prepa- 
ration which is extensively employed is — 



140 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Argenti Nitras {Nitrate of Silver). This salt (AgO,N0 5 ) 
is obtained by dissolving silver in diluted nitric acid. It is 
anhydrous, and occurs in transparent colourless, shining, heavy 
rhombic plates, which have a strongly metallic and bitter taste, 
and are wholly soluble in distilled water, and become black- 
ened by the action of light and organic matters. Its solution 
yields with chloride of sodium a white precipitate, entirely 
soluble in ammonia. 

Physiological Effects. — The topical action of nitrate of silver 
is that of a caustic or corrosive ; and this effect is produced by 
its combining with the albumen and fibrin of the tissues. 
When applied to mucous membranes, it forms a compound with 
the animal matter of the mucus, which protects the tissues 
from the action of the caustic. Hence, large doses may be 
taken with considerable impunity by the stomach. But, in 
excesssive quantity, it may occasion gastro-enteric irritation, 
with disturbance of the nervous system ; and in these cases, 
the antidote is common salt (chloride of sodium), which pro- 
duces, when in contact with the nitrate, nitrate of sodium and 
chloride of silver. In medicinal doses, nitrate of silver has a 
specific corroborant and antispasmodic action on the nervous 
system; and, after prolonged use, produces a peculiar indelible 
blueness or slate-colour of the skin. 

Medicinal Uses. — Internally, nitrate of silver has been chiefly 
employed as an antispasmodic tonic in the treatment of epi- 
lepsy, and it is among the most reliable remedies that can be 
administered in this intractable affection; but its effect in dis- 
colouring the skin is an objection to its protracted use. It is 
also used in chorea and gastrodynia, and as an astringent in 
dysentery. But it is as an external agent that it is chiefly 
resorted to. It is the most efficacious application that can be 
made to inflamed mucous membranes, and either in the solid 
form or in solution, it is employed in every variety of inflam- 
mation of this tissue. It is also extensively used to produce 
healthy granulations in wounds and ulcers, to arrest the progress 
of erysipelatous inflammation and variolous pustules, in porrigo 



SUBNITRATE OF BISMUTH. 141 

and other skin diseases, in strictures, and to destroy the virus 
of chancres and of poisoned wounds. 

Administration. — The dose of nitrate of silver internally is 
gr. \, gradually increased to gr. iij or iv, three times a day, in 
pill made with some mild vegetable powder. For external use, 
solutions are made of various strengths, from gr. ij to Sss, in 
an ounce of distilled water. An ointment is also employed. 

Argenti Nitras Fusa [Fused Nitrate of Silver, Lunar 
Caustic). For external use, in the solid form, nitrate of silver 
is melted and poured into small moulds. 

Arcjenti Oxldum [Oxide of Silver) (AgO), is obtained by 
adding solution of potassa to a solution of nitrate of silver. 
It is a tasteless, olive-brown powder, very slightly soluble in 
water. Its uses are analogous to those of the nitrate, and it 
is employed in epilepsy, gastrodynia, chronic diarrhoea, uterine 
disease, &c. It is considered to be free from liability to dis- 
colour the skin. Dose, gr. ss to gr. ij, twice or thrice daily, in 
powder or pill. 

BISMUTHI SUBNITRAS — SUBNITRATE OF BISMUTH. 

This salt is prepared by first forming the ternitrate of bis- 
muth by dissolving bismuth in diluted nitric acid ; as metallic 
bismuth generally contains arsenic, the nitrate thus formed is 
converted into the carbonate, by the addition of solution of car- 
bonate of sodium, whereby most of the arsenic is removed as 
soluble arseniate of sodium ; the carbonate of bismuth is next 
dissolved in nitric acid, and the nitrate of bismuth is again 
formed ; a little water is added to the mixed solution of nitrate 
and arseniate of bismuth, by which the subarseniate is depos- 
ited and separated ; the addition of a large amount of water 
causes a deposition of subnitrate of bismuth ; the supernitrate 
remaining in solution is lastly decomposed by ammonia, which 
takes most of the nitric acid, and precipitates the bismuth 
combined with the remainder in the form of subnitrate. Sub- 
nitrate of bismuth (Bi0 3 ,N0 5 ) is a white, inodorous, tasteless 
powder, nearly insoluble in water. Its medicinal properties are 
tonic, antispasmodic, and astringent, and it has been employed 



142 MATERIA MEDICA. 

in intermittent fever ; but it is now chiefly used to allay sick- 
ness and vomiting in chronic nervous affections of the stomach, 
to relieve the pain of gastralgia, and also as an astringent in 
subacute and chronic diarrhoea. Dose, gr. v to 3j, or even 
5ss, in powder or pill. Externally, it is a good remedy in skin 
diseases in the form of ointment. The subcarhonate of bismuth 
— bismuthi subcarbonas (Bi0 3 C0 2 ) — is recommended as a sub- 
stitute for the subnitrate. It is thought to be more readily 
tolerated by the stomach, and is more soluble in the gastric 
juice, but it is less astringent. 

CAD Mil SULPHAS — SULPHATE OF CADMIUM. 

This salt is obtained by the addition of sulphuric acid to car- 
bonate of cadmium ; the latter salt being first procured by the 
reaction of carbonate of sodium upon nitrate of cadmium, pre- 
viously made by dissolving cadmium in nitric acid and water. 
It occurs in transparent, colourless, prismatic crystals (CdO,S0 3 ), 
of an astringent, austere taste, and very soluble in water. In 
its effects on the system, it closely resembles sulphate of zinc, 
but it has been chiefly used in this country, as a collyrium (gr. 
j-ij to water f § j), and has been found very efficacious in specks 
and opacities of the cornea. 

CERII OXALAS — OXALATE OF CERIUM. 

This salt (2CeO,C 4 6 +6HO), is usually made by adding a 
solution of oxalate of ammonium to any soluble salt of cerium, 
and is also obtained from the mineral cerite. It occurs as a 
snow-white, granular powder, inodorous and tasteless, insoluble 
in water, alcohol, and ether, but dissolved by sulphuric acid. 
It is believed to resemble the salts of silver, bismuth, and zinc 
in its effects, and has lately been deservedly extolled in obsti- 
nate forms of vomiting, especially the vomiting of pregnancy. 
In chorea, and other neuroses, it is also highly recommended. 
Dose, a grain three times a day, or oftener, in pill or suspended 
in Water. The nitrate of cerium has also been employed, and 
is more soluble. Dose, somewhat less. 



MINERAL ACIDS. 143 



ACIDA MINERALIA — MINERAL ACIDS. 

The diluted mineral acids are usually classed with tonics ; 
but, although they exert a very considerable corroborant influ- 
ence on the system, their action is in many respects peculiar 
and distinctive. In the concentrated form, they are corrosive. 
When properly diluted with water and swallowed in medicinal 
doses, they allay thirst, increase the appetite, and stimulate di- 
gestion. After absorption into the blood, they often produce a 
restorative effect in morbid conditions of the circulating fluid, 
and in their passage out by the secretions, act as astringents. 
They are employed — as tonics, usually in combination with the 
vegetable bitters, in dyspepsia, especially when it is dependent 
on a deficiency of the gastric fluid ; as antalkalines, to correct 
the morbid alkalinity of the blood in typhoid and other essen- 
tial fevers, and in purpura, scurvy, and analogous blood dis- 
eases ; as astringents and styptics in hemorrhage from the 
stomach and bowels, and in colliquative discharges ; to allay 
febrile heat and cutaneous irritation ; in phosphatic lithiasis ; 
and locally, as escharotics ; and, in very dilute solution, they 
are injected into the bladder as lithontriptics. In cases of 
poisoning from the mineral acids, the alkaline earths and fixed 
oils are the proper antidotes. 

Acidum Sulphuricum (Sulphuric Acid), formerly called 
Oil of Vitriol, is obtained by burning sulphur, mixed with 
nitre, over a stratum of water contained in a chamber lined 
with sheet-lead. It is a dense, colourless, inodorous, corrosive 
liquid, of an oily consistence, which unites with water in all 
proportions, with the evolution of heat. It consists of one 
equivalent of sulphur and three equivalents of oxygen (S0 3 ), 
and, when of the sp. gr. 1.845, contains one equivalent of 
water. It should have, as directed by the Pharmacopoeia, the 
sp. gr. 1.843, when it contains 79 per cent, of anhydrous acid. 
In this concentrated form, it is not employed internally, but is 
sometimes used externally as a caustic. When swallowed, it 
acts as a violent corrosive poison, usually staining the lips, 



144 MATERIA MEDICA. 

mouth, and fauces with white or black sloughs. The proper 
antidote is magnesia or chalk, or solution of soap, and mucila- 
ginous drinks should be afterwards freely administered. 

Acidum Sulphuricum Dilutum [Diluted Sulphuric Acid), 
contains two troyounces of sulphuric acid in a pint of acid 
diluted with distilled water. It is given as a tonic, refrigerant, 
and astringent, in the dose of from ten to thirty drops, three 
times a day, in water, and should be sucked through a tube to 
prevent injury to the teeth. This acid is a particularly valu- 
able remedy in typhus and typhoid fevers, colliquative perspi- 
rations, and choleraic diarrhoea ; and it is the best corrective 
for phosphatic lithiasis. It is used externally as a gargle, and 
wash to ulcers. • 

Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum (Aromatic Sulphuric 
Acid), or Elixir of Vitriol, is made by digesting six troyounces 
of sulphuric acid in a pint of alcohol, then percolating a troy- 
ounce of ginger and a troyounce and a half of cinnamon with 
alcohol till a pint of tincture is obtained, and mixing the tinc- 
ture with the diluted acid. It is a reddish-brown liquid, with 
an aromatic odour and a pleasant acid taste ; and is an agree- 
able substitute for the diluted sulphuric acid, administered in 
the same doses. 

Acidum Sulphurosum (Sulphurous Acid), is made by heat- 
ing sulphuric acid with charcoal and distilled water. The sul- 
phuric acid (S0 3 ) is deprived of an equivalent of oxygen by 
the charcoal, and becomes sulphurous acid (S0 2 ). It is a 
colourless liquid, having the smell of burning sulphur, and a 
sulphurous, sour, and somewhat astringent taste. It has been 
only of late years employed in medicine, and is believed to have 
a special influence in destroying parasitic life. Internally, it 
is very efficacious in sarcina ventriculi, or yeast vomiting ; dose, 
f5j, largely diluted with water. Externally, it is used in skin 
diseases (particularly those of a parasitic nature, either animal- 
cular or cryptogamous) — diluted with two or three measures of 
water or glycerin. The sulphite of sodium — sodii sulphis (NaO, 
S0 2 +3HO) — is used as a substitute for sulphurous acid, which 
is developed from the salt by any of the organic acids. It 



MINERAL ACIDS. 145 

occurs in white efflorescent, prismatic crystals, of a sulphurous 
taste, soluble in four parts of cold and one part of boiling 
water. Dose, 5j> three times a day ; a solution (5i-f§i of 
water) is a good local application in erysipelas. The hyposul- 
phite of sodium (NaO,S 2 2 +7HO), is used for the same pur- 
poses. It occurs in white, tabular crystals, of a pearly lustre 
and sulphurous taste, which are very deliquescent, and very 
soluble in water and alcohol, and insoluble in ether. Dose, gr. 
x-xx, three times a day, and for external use, 5j> dissolved in 
water f'Sj. Both the sulphite and hyposulphite of sodium have 
been found very efficacious in intermittent and remittent fevers. 
The sulphite is perhaps the more efficacious salt. Potassii 
Sulphis [Sulphite of Potassium), occurs in white, opaque frag- 
ments or powder, of a saline and sulphurous taste, very 
soluble in water ; its uses and doses are the same as those of 
sulphite of sodium. The sulphite of magnesium is also 
employed in zymotic diseases, and is less unpalatable than the 
sodium salt, and besides contains a larger proportional quantity 
of acid. The sulphites of sodium, potassium, and magnesium 
are employed in the treatment of purulent infection. Sulphites 
of calcium and ammonium have been also recommended. 

Acidum Nitricum {Nitric Acid) (N0 5 ), is obtained by the 
action of sulphuric acid upon nitrate of potassium. When 
pure, it is colourless ; but, as found in the shops, it is usually of 
a straw colour, owing to the presence of hyponitric acid. It 
should have a sp. gr. 1.420 (when it contains 60 per cent, of 
anhydrous acid), and is a corrosive, sour liquid, employed, in the 
concentrated form, as an escharotic to destroy warts and stimu- 
late indolent sinuses, and diluted, as an astringent wash or 
gargle. Cases of poisoning from this acid are to be treated with 
magnesia or soap, and mucilaginous drinks. In poisoning from 
nitric acid, the fauces and mouth are covered with yellow eschars. 
Internally, it is used in the form of 

Acidum Nitricum Dilutum [Diluted Nitric Acid), which 

contains three troyounces of acid in a pint of diluted acid. 

This is given as a substitute for sulphuric acid, but is more apt 

to disagree with the stomach ; it is also employed as an altera- 

10 



146 MATERIA MEDICA. 

tive in syphilis, and has been found useful in whooping-cough. 
Combined with laudanum and camphor-water, it is much used 
in the treatment of dysentery, under the name of Hopes Cam- 
phor Mixture (camphor water f'oviij, nitric acid f5i, laudanum 
25 drops ; dose fSss, repeated). Dose, for internal use, 20 to 
40 drops, three times a day, reduced with water. 

Acidum Muriaticum (Muriatic Acid), is an aqueous solu- 
tion of chlorohydric acid gas (HC1), of sp. gr. 1.160, and is ob- 
tained by the action of sulphuric acid on solution of chloride 
of sodium or common salt. It is, when pure, a transparent, 
colourless liquid, but has often a yellow colour, owing to the 
presence of iron or other contaminations. It has a corrosive 
taste, and a suffocating odour, and is an active poison, though 
less irritating than sulphuric and nitric acids. Magnesia or 
soap is the proper antidote. It is used, externally, as a caus- 
tic, and as an application in diphtheria, ulcerative and gangren- 
ous stomatitis, &c. ; internally, in the form of 

Acidum Muriaticum Dilutum (Diluted Muriatic Acid), 
which contains four troyounces of acid in a pint of diluted 
acid. This is employed in typhoid and typhus fevers, malig- 
nant scarlatina, &c. ; also to counteract phosphatic deposits in 
the urine, to prevent the generation of worms, in syphilis, in 
dysentery, and in some forms of dyspepsia. Dose, twenty to 
sixty drops, which may be given in infusion of rose. 

Acidum Nitro-Muriaticum (Nitro-Muriatic Acid). This 
acid is made by mixing three parts of nitric acid with five parts 
of muriatic acid, and consists of two compounds of chlorine 
and nitric oxide (N0 2 C1 2 and N0 2 C1), mixed with free chlorine. 
It has a deep golden-yellow colour, and emits the smell of 
chlorine. Internally, it is employed in the same cases as nitric 
acid, and is thought to be particularly efficacious in oxaluria, 
and in diseases of the liver and syphilis. It should not be 
given with mercurials. Externally, it is used as a bath, either 
local or general, in oxaluria, syphilis, and chronic hepatitis, for 
which purpose one or two ounces of acid may be added to a gallon 
of water. Dose, from two to five drops, properly diluted, and 
carefully increased. Diluted Nitro-Muriatic Acid contains 



ASTRINGENTS. 147 

four troyounces of acid in a pint of diluted acid ; dose, ten to 
twenty drops. 

Acidum Oxalicum (Oxalic Acid) (C 2 3 ). This acid, which 
is found in many vegetables, as the sorrels, and is often depo- 
sited in the bladder as oxalate of lime, or mulberry calculus, is 
usually obtained by decomposing sugar with nitric acid. It 
occurs in small, colourless, prismatic crystals, having a strongly 
acid taste, is soluble in water, and decomposable by heat with- 
out residue. It is used medicinally with success in typhoid 
fever, in scurvy, and purpura, and as an astringent to check 
the colliquative perspirations of phthisis, and the expectoration 
of chronic bronchitis. Dose, gr. J to gr. 1, three or four times 
a day. It is a virulent acro-narcotic poison, in large amounts, 
acting with very great rapidity and certainty ; and, as its crys- 
tals resemble those of Epsom salt, it is often sold by mistake 
for that purgative. The proper antidote is chalk or magnesia, 
mixed with water. 

ORDER V. — ASTRINGENTS. 

These are medicines which produce contraction and corruga- 
tion of the tissues. Their constitutional effects are somewhat 
analogous to those of tonics; as, like them, they increase the 
tone and vigour of the body, and exercise a control over 
various disorders of the nervous system. But they are chiefly 
employed to cure relaxation of the fibres and tissues, to subdue 
inflammation of superficial parts, and to arrest hemorrhage and 
excessive discharges from mucous membranes or other secret- 
ing surfaces. In checking morbid discharges from the bowels, 
astringents, while they diminish the secretions from the intes- 
tinal canal, do not, like opium, restrain the peristaltic move- 
ments ; hence the necessity of combining them with opiates. 
They are divided into Vegetable and Mineral astringents. 
Most of the former owe their astringency to the presence of 
a principle termed tannic acid, and differ from tonics in 
the absence of bitterness. The mineral preparations usually 
classed among astringents, are those of alum and lead, and 



148 MATERIA MEDICA. 

are distinguished from the mineral astringent-tonics, by their 
more decided astringency and a sedative action on the vas- 
cular system. 

VEGETABLE ASTRINGENTS. 
ACIDUM TANNICUM — TANNIC ACID. 

This acid, which is the active principle of the vegetable astrin- 
gents, is usually extracted from powdered galls by the action of 
ether. It is of a yellowish-white colour, and a strongly astrin- 
gent taste, is very soluble in water, and soluble, though less so, 
in alcohol and ether. It produces a white flocculent precipi- 
tate with solution of gelatine, a bluish-black precipitate with 
the salts of the sesquioxide of iron, and white precipitates with 
solutions of the vegetable alkalies ; and these substances are to 
be, therefore, considered incomijatible with all the vegetable 
astringents. There is a variety of tannic acid, obtained from 
catechu and some other substances, which strikes a greenish- 
black precipitate with the salts of iron, and is not convertible 
into gallic acid. Tannic acid is C 54 H 19 31 -f 3HO. 

Effects and Uses. — Tannic acid is a powerful astringent, and 
is applicable to all the cases in which astringents are useful. 
It is greatly resorted to, internally, in the treatment of diar- 
rhoea, dysentery, cholera, hemorrhage, colliquative sweats, &c. ; 
also as an enema in diarrhoea, dysentery, prolapsus ani, and 
fissure of the rectum ; and as a topical application, in inflamma- 
tions and morbid discharges from mucous membranes, ulcers, 
&c. It is, perhaps, the best form in which the vegetable 
astringents can be employed, owing to the certainty and 
minuteness of the dose in which it can be given. Dose, gr. j 
to gr. iij, or iv, in pill, occasionally repeated. For external 
use, the glycerite of tannic acid (glyceritum acidi tannici), is 
employed ; it is made by rubbing together and dissolving at a 
gentle heat 2 troy ounces of tannic acid in half a pint of glycerin. 
Ointment of tannic acid (unguentum acidi tamuci), is made by 
rubbing up 30 grains of tannic acid with a troyounce of lard. 



NUTGALL. 149 



ACIDUM GALLICUM — GALLIC ACID. 

This principle is found in many of the vegetable astringents, 
but less uniformly than tannic acid, and is probably the result 
of changes which the latter has undergone. It is prepared by 
exposing a mixture of nutgalls in water to the air, when the 
tannic acid gradually absorbs oxygen and is converted into 
gallic acid ; it is purified by being boiled in water and filtered 
through animal charcoal. It occurs in small, silky, nearly 
colourless crystals, having a slightly acid and astringent taste, 
and is soluble in boiling water, and slightly so in cold water. 
It is C 7 H 3 5 . 

Effects and Uses. — Gallic acid is a valuable astringent, which 
has of late been extensively employed in hemorrhagic disorders, 
as uterine hemorrhage, hemoptysis, hematuria, bloody diar- 
rhoea, &c. Both tannic and gallic acids have been found useful 
in albuminuria. Gallic acid has but feeble local astringent 
powers, and is probably converted into tannic acid in the blood ; 
though in hemorrhages, it is said to be more efficacious than 
the latter acid. It may be given in doses of gr. ij to gr. v, in 
pill, every two or three hours. 



GAL LA — NUTGALL. 

Nutgall is a morbid excrescence found upon Quercus in- 
fectoria, or the Gall Oak {Nat. Ord. Corylacese), a small tree 
or shrub of Asia Minor. The Gall-nuts are produced by the 
puncture of the buds by a fly (Cynips querciisfolii), to form 
a nidus for its eggs. This occasions an irritation and flow of 
juices to the part, resulting in the formation of a tumour round 
the larva, which, on attaining maturity, perforates the gall and 
escapes. Galls are produced chiefly in Syria and Asia Minor, 
and are imported from the Levant. They are brought also 
from Calcutta, being collected to some extent in India. Galls 
are spherical, about the size of a hickory-nut, but of varying 
dimensions, with small tubercles on their surface. The best 



150 MATERIA MEDICA. 

are bluish or black externally, and grayish within, without 
odour, and of a very astringent, bitter taste. They yield their 
properties to both water and alcohol, but best to the former, 
and contain both tannic and gallic acids. White galls are col- 
lected after they have been perforated by the insect, and are 
inferior in astringency. 

Effects and Uses. — Galls are powerfully astringent, but are 
not much used internally. In the form of infusion or decoc- 
tion, they are employed as enemata in diarrhoea and dysentery, 
and also as gargles. Dose of the jioivder, gr. x to gr. xx. 
The tincture (four troyounces to diluted alcohol Oij) may be 
given in the dose of f5j to foiij, but it is chiefly used as a chemi- 
cal test. The ointment (one part to seven parts of lard) is a 
favourite application in hemorrhoids. 

CATECHU. 

Catechu, formerly called Terra Japonica, is an extract of 
the wood of Acacia Catechu, a small prickly tree of India 
(Nat. Ord. Fabacese). Twelve or fifteen varieties of the drug- 
are described by pharmacologists ; but it is usually met with 
in the shops, in masses of various shapes and sizes, of a rusty- 
brown colour externally, and varying internally from a reddish 
or yellowish-brown to a dark-brown colour. The best is of a 
dark colour, and is easily broken into small angular fragments, 
with a smooth glossy surface, bearing some resemblance to 
kino. It is without smell, and has an astringent, bitter taste. 
It contains about 50 per cent, of tannic acid (of the variety 
which strikes a greenish-black precipitate with the salts of 
iron), and about 30 per cent, of a peculiar extractive, 
called catechuic acid, to both of which it owes its peculiar 
properties. 

Effects and Uses. — This is one of the most powerful and 
valuable of the vegetable astringents, possessing also mild tonic 
properties. It is much employed in diarrhoea, dysentery, 
hemorrhages, and in all cases of immoderate discharge, unat- 
tended with inflammatory action. It is a good deal used in 



KINO. 151 

relaxed conditions of the mouth and throat, to relieve the 
hoarseness of public speakers, also in aphthous ulcerations of 
the mouth, and spongy affections of the gums. Topically, it 
is employed as a styptic, and in solution as an injection in go- 
norrhoea and gleet, &c. Dose of the powder, gr. x to 5ss, in 
bolus or emulsion. 

Infusum Catechu Compositum [Compound Infusion of 
Catechu), is made by adding boiling water (Oj) to powdered 
catechu (half a troyounce), and cinnamon (5j) — dose, f§j to 
f^ij, three or four times a day. Of the tincture (three troy- 
ounces to diluted alcohol Oij, with cinnamon two troyounces), 
the dose is f5j to foiij- 



KINO. 

The term Kino is applied to the products of several trees. 
Five varieties are known. 1. East India kino, which is the 
most common, and is the inspissated juice of Pterocarpus 
marsupium {Nat. Ord. Eabacese), a lofty tree of Malabar. 2. 
African kino, the original variety introduced into Europe, but 
not now met with ; obtained from Pterocarpus erinaceus (Wat. 
Ord. Fabaceae). 3. Jamaica kino, the extract of the wood and 
bark of Coccoloba uvifera, or Seaside Grape (Wat. Ord. Poly- 
gon aceae). a small tree of South America and the West Indies. 
4. South America or Caraccas kino, which is probably derived 
from Coccoloba uvifera. 5. Botany Bay kino, the concrete 
juice of Eucalyptus resinifera (Wat. Ord. Myrtacese), a large 
tree of Australia. 

East India kino is met with in small, angular, shining frag- 
ments, of a dark-brown or reddish-brown colour, brittle, without 
smell, but with a very astringent taste. It contains tannic 
acid (of the second variety), kinoic acid (which is the red 
colouring matter), pectin, ulmic acid, and inorganic salts. 

South American kino comes in large masses, externally very 
dark, and internally of a deep reddish-brown colour. 

Jamaica kino is like the last, but contained in large gourds. 

Effects and Uses. — Kino is a powerful astringent, and is 



152 MATERIA MEDICA. 

much used in diarrhoea, chronic dysentery, leucorrhoea, gonor- 
rhoea, hemorrhages, &c. Externally, it is employed as a 
styptic, and as a stimulant to indolent ulcers. Dose, of the 
powder gr. x to 5ss ; of the tincture (5vj to diluted alcohol, 
consisting of two measures of alcohol and one measure of 
water, f§viij), f5j or foij may be given, and it is frequently 
added to chalk mixture in diarrhoea. It spoils by keeping. 



KRAME E I A — E HATANY. 

Rhatany is the EOOT of Krameria triandra (Nat. Ord. Poly- 
galese), a shrub of Peru. It occurs in woody cylindrical pieces, 
of the thickness of a goose-quill to twice that size — many radi- 
cles being often united to a common head. They have a dark, 
reddish-brown bark, and a tough central ligneous portion, of a 
lighter red colour. They are without smell, but have a very 
astringent, slightly bitter, and sweetish taste, which is much 
stronger in the cortical than the ligneous portion ; and, hence 
the smallest pieces should be preferred, as they contain the most 
bark. Rhatany yields a large proportion of tannic acid (of 
the second variety), and a peculiar acid, termed krameric, both 
of which probably contribute to its astringency. It imparts its 
properties to both cold and boiling water, but more fully to 
alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — Rhatany is powerfully astringent, with 
some tonic properties. It is much used in the treatment of 
diarrhoea, dysentery, hemorrhages, &c, and as an enema in 
fissure of the anus, hemorrhoids, leucorrhoea, &c. The pow- 
dered extract is an ingredient in many tooth-powders, and the 
tincture is also used as an astringent mouth-wash. Dose of the 
powder gr. xx to gr. xxx. But it is more employed in infusion 
(a troyounce to boiling water Oj), dose, f§j or fSij ; watery ex- 
tract, dose gr. x to gr. xx ; fluid extract, dose foss-i ; tincture 
(six troyounces to diluted alcohol Oij), dose f5j to fSij ; and 
syrup (twelve troyounces percolated with water till four pints 
of filtered liquor are obtained, which is to be evaporated to 
seventeen fluidounces, and in this thirty troyounces of sugar 



WHITE OAK — BLACK OAK. 153 

are to be dissolved by gentle heat), dose f5j to f§ss ; or the 
syrup may be made by adding twelve fluidounces of the fluid 
extract to twenty-four fluidounces of syrup. 

H^MATOXYLON — LOGWOOD. 

Logwood, or Campeachy wood, is the heart-wood of Hae- 
matoxylon Campechianum (Nat. Ord. Fabaceae), a medium-sized 
tree of Campeachy and other maritime parts of tropical America, 
and now naturalized in the West Indies. The portion used in 
medicine, and also as a dye, is the heart-wood, from which the 
bark and white sap-wood are removed, previously to exporta- 
tion. It is imported in billets of different sizes, of a dark 
colour externally, and a deep-red internally ; in the shops it is 
kept in chips or raspings. It has a sweetish, astringent, and 
rather peculiar taste, and a feeble, not unpleasant smell. It 
contains tannic acid, a colouring principle called hcematin or 
hematoxylin, volatile oil, resin, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — It is a mild astringent, useful in chronic 
diarrhoea and dysentery, and particularly well adapted to the 
weakened condition of the bowels, which follows cholera infan- 
tum, and is also much employed in the diarrhoea of phthisis. 
It is given either in decoction (a troy ounce to water Oij, boiled 
down to Oj), in the dose of f§j to fsij to adults, and f5j to 5ij 
to children ; or watery extract in the dose of gr. x to 5ss, in 
solution. 



QUE ROUS ALBA — WHITE OAK. QUERCUS TINCTORIA — 

BLACK OAK. 

The barks of several species of American oaks possess astrin- 
gent properties, and are probably to be found in the shops, but 
the only officinal varieties are Quercus Alba, White Oak, and 
Quercus Tinctoria, Black Oak (Nat. Ord. Amentaceie). The 
inner bark is the portion used, but the leaves and acorns are 
also astringent. White Oak Bark is distinguished by its whitish 
colour. When prepared for use, it is deprived of its epidermis, 



154 MATERIA MEDICA. 

and is of a light-brown colour and fibrous texture, with an as- 
tringent and bitterish taste. Water and alcohol extract its 
virtues, which depend mainly on the presence of tannic and 
gallic acids, with a bitter principle, termed quercin. Black 
Oak Bark is more furrowed, has a darker colour, a more bitter 
taste, and stains the saliva yellow, when chewed; it is much em- 
ployed as a dye, under the name of quercitron. It contains a 
larger proportion of tannic and gallic acids than the white-oak 
bark. 

Effects and Uses. — A decoction of white oak bark is a good 
remedy in diarrhoea and hemorrhoids, and is employed as an 
enema in hemorrhoids, and prolapsus and fissure of the anus, 
as a gargle in relaxation of the uvula, and as an injection in 
leucorrhoea. It is used as a bath in the bowel complaints of 
children ; and a poultice of the ground bark is applied in gan- 
grene. Black oak bark is too irritating for internal exhibition : 
but for external use it is a stronger astringent than the white 
oak bark. Of the decoction of white oak (decoctum qnercus albce), 
(a troyounce to water Oj), f^ij may be taken frequently. 

GERANIUM. 

One of the most powerful of the indigenous astringents is 
Geranium maculatum, Crowfoot, or Cranesbill (Nat. Ord. Ge- 
raniacese), a perennial herbaceous plant, growing in moist woody 
situations, with an erect stem, one or two feet high, three to 
five-lobed, incised, pale-green, mottled leaves, and large purple 
flowers, which appear in April and May. The part used is the 
rhizome, which should be collected in the autumn. This, 
when dried, occurs in wrinkled, rough pieces, from a quarter to 
a half an inch in thickness, furnished with slender fibres, of a 
dark-brown colour externally, and a pale-flesh colour within. It 
has an astringent, but not bitter taste, little or no smell, and 
contains tannic and gallic acids, with some mucilage. 

Effects and Uses. — This is an excellent simple astringent, 
agreeing very well with the stomach, and might be advanta- 
geously substituted for more expensive foreign drugs. It may 



GERANIUM. 



155 



be used internally to fulfil the indications of kino, rhatany, &c, 
in bowel complaints and hemorrhages, and topically as an ene- 



• Fia-. 13. 




ma, gargle, injection, &c. It is also a valuable styptic. Dose, 
in powder, gr. x to xx ; of the decoction (a troyounce to water 
Oj), foj to foij may be given ; this is not officinal. A decoction 
in milk is given to children. The fluid extract may be given in 
doses of 5ss-5i. 



156 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



UVA URSI. 



Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi, or Bearberry (Nat. Ord. Eri- 
caceae), is a small, trailing, evergreen shrub, with coriaceous, 

Fig. 14. 




obovate leaves (somewhat like box leaves, and red-whortleberry 
leaves), about half an inch in length, pale rose-coloured flowers, 
appearing from June to September, and small red berries 
which ripen during the winter. It is found in the northern 
parts of Asia, Europe and America. The leaves are the 
only part used. When dried, they have a faint hay-like odour, 
and a bitterish, astringent taste. They yield their virtues to 
water and alcohol, and contain tannic and gallic acids, a prin- 
ciple termed ursin (which is said to act as a diuretic in the dose 
of a grain), a crystallizable glucoside, termed arbutin, extract- 
ive, resin, gum, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — Uva Ursi is astringent, tonic, and diu- 
retic, and exercises a particular control over discharges from 
mucous surfaces. Hence, its employment in catarrh of the 
bladder, chronic bronchitis, with profuse discharge, &c. It is 
also applicable to the ordinary uses of the vegetable astringents. 



PIPSISSEWA. 



157 



Dose of the powder 3j to 3ij, three times a day; but it is 
usually given in decoction (a troyounce to water Oj), of which 
f§j to foij may be taken three times a day. The fluid extract 
may be given in the dose of f5ss-f5j. 



C HIM A PHIL A — PIPSISSEWA. 

Chimaphila umbellata, Pipsissewa, Wintergreen, or Ground- 
Holly {Nat. Orel. Pyrolaceae), is a small, indigenous, evergreen 

Fig. 15. 




plant, common to the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and 
America, and found abundantly in woody situations in all parts 



158 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of the United States. It has an erect stem, three to ten inches 
high, lanceolate, somewhat wedge-shaped, serrated, dark-green 
leaves, arranged in irregular whorls, and beautiful five-petaled 
flowers, of a white colour tinged with red, and a very agreeable 
perfume, which appear in June. The leaves are the officinal 
portion. In the fresh state, they have a fragrant smell when 
bruised, which they loose after drying. Their taste is bitterish 
and astringent, but somewhat aromatic. They contain tannic 
acid, bitter extractive, resin, and probably some acrid volatile 
constituent — as the fresh leaves, when bruised and applied to 
the skin, will cause redness and even vesication. 

Chimaphila maculata, or Spotted Pipsissewa, possesses analo- 
gous properties to those of C. umbellata, from which it differs 
principally in the character of its leaves. They are of a deep 
olive-green colour, veined with greenish-white ; and the flowers 
are a pure white, and appear in July. 

Effect and Uses. — Pipsissewa is astringent and tonic, and 
also diuretic. It is employed in the disorders of the urinary 
organs to which uva ursi is applicable, and also for its diuretic 
properties in dropsy, attended with debility of the digestive 
organs. Indeed, it is classed by some therapeutists among the 
diuretics. It is usually given in decoction (a troyounce to 
water Oi), of which Oj may be taken in the twenty-four hours ; 
and a fermented decoction, made with molasses, ginger, and 
yeast, is often used. The fluid extract may be given in doses 
of f5ss-i. 

The following vegetable astringents deserve notice, though 
less frequently employed than the foregoing : 

Granati Fructus Cortex (Pomegranate Rind). This is 
the rind OF the fruit of Punica Granatum, the Pomegranate 
tree (Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae), a small tree of Northern Africa, 
Syria, and Persia, now naturalized in the warmer portions of 
Europe, the West Indies, &c. The rind of the fruit is a 
powerful astringent, but is little used internally, from its lia- 
bility to occasion nausea. Dose, in poivder, gr. xx to 5ss ; but 



BLACKBERRY. 159 

it is best given in decoction (a troyounce to water Oj), (not 
officinal), dose, f§j. 

Rosa Gallica (Red Rose). Rosa Centifolia (Pale Rose). 
The petals of these two species of rose are officinal, but those 
of almost every other species of cultivated rose may be em- 
ployed for the same purposes as rosa centifolia, which is 
not astringent. The red rose is a mild astringent, and is 
chiefly used in conjunction with sulphuric acid, in the infusum 
rosce comjpositum — compound infusion of rose (half a troyounce 
to boiling water Oijss, diluted sulphuric acid f5iij, sugar a 
troyounce and a half) ; dose, f^ij to f§iv. The confection is 
used as a basis for pills. Mel Rosce (Honey of Rose), made 
with diluted alcohol and clarified honey, is used as an addition 
to gargles ; the syrup is added to mixtures. The pale rose is 
slightly laxative. Aqua Rosce (Rose Water), distilled from 
the pale rose, is much employed in collyria, &c. 

Diospyros (Persimmon). The unripe fruit of Diospyros 
Virginiana (Nat. Ord. Ebenaceae), an indigenous tree, is em- 
ployed in diarrhoea, dysentery, and uterine hemorrhage, in in- 
fusion, syrup, and vinous and acetous tinctures. The bark is 
bitter and astringent, but is not officinal. 

Tormentilla (Tormentil). The rhizome of Potentilla Tor- 
mentilla (Nat. Ord. Rosaceae), a European plant, is used in 
Europe as an astringent, in the dose of 5ss to 5j, but is seldom 
or never employed in this country. 

Rubus (Blackberry). The bark of the root of Rubus 
villosus, and Rubus Canadensis (Nat. Ord. Rosacea), the 
former an erect, prickly shrub, and the latter a creeping brier, 
are very efficient mild astringents, which have been used - with 
excellent effect in bowel complaints, especially those of children. 
The astringency resides principally in the cortical portion, and 
hence the smallest roots should be preferred ; of the decoction 
(not officinal), (a troyounce to water Oi), fSij may be taken fre- 
quently. 

The fluid extract may be given in doses of f5i-ij ; the syrup 
is made by adding half a pint of the fluid extract to a pint and 
a half of syrup. Dose, a tablespoonful. 



160 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Heuchera (Alum-rootif. The rhizomes of Heuchera Amer- 
icana, and other species of Heuchera (Nat. Ord. Saxifragaceae), 
indigenous plants known under the common name of Alum- 
root, with radical leaves somewhat like those of the maple, and 
numerous radical flower-stems, one to two feet in height, with 
rose-coloured flowers arranged in pyramidal panicles — possess 
very decided astringent properties, and may be used both ex- 
ternally and internally. 

A large number of vegetable substances, both indigenous 
and foreign, have been used as astringents, in addition to those 
enumerated — the astringent principle being the most common 
medicinal quality with which plants are endowed. 

The foregoing list comprises all the more important. 

CREASOTU M — C R E A S T E. 

Creasote is a peculiar substance obtained from wood-tar, or 
from crude pyroligneous acid. When pure, it is a colourless, 
oleaginous liquid, with a caustic, burning taste, and a penetra- 
ting, . disagreeable characteristic odour, like that of smoked 
meat. Its sp. gr. (U. S. P.) is 1.046 ; its formula is variously 
given, (C 28 H 16 4 ), (and C 14 H 8 2 ). It forms two solutions with 
water, one of 1 part to 80 parts of water, the other of 1 part 
of water in 10 parts of creasote ; and it is soluble, in all pro- 
portions, in alcohol, ether, naphtha, and acetic acid. A re- 
markable property of creasote is its power of preserving meat, 
whence its name (from K peac, flesh, and a6£o, I save). 

Effects and Uses. — Creasote, in large doses, is an acro- 
narcotic poison. In small closes, it is styptic and astringent, 
and, though not very nearly allied to the vegetable astringent 
articles, which contain tannic acid, it is, perhaps, more generally 
administered for its astringent than for any other properties. 
It is an excellent remedy in hsematemesis, and is also employed 
in haemoptysis and other hemorrhages. It is very efficacious 
in allaying vomiting and gastric irritability, and has been 
exhibited for its astringent virtues with good effect in diarrhoea, 



CARBOLIC ACID. 161 

diabetes, and chronic bronchitis, and as a nervine in epilepsy, 
hysteria, neuralgia, &c. Externally, it is applied, in various 
degrees of dilution, to indolent, sloughing, and foul ulcers ; 
in several cutaneous affections ; as a gargle in putrid sorethroat ; 
and for the relief of deafness. In the concentrated form, it is 
a good styptic in capillary hemorrhages, and is applied with, 
effect to the hollows of carious teeth, for the removal of the 
pain of toothache. There is no antidote in cases of poison- 
ing from creasote, but stimulants are to be freely administered. 

Dose, internally, one or two drops, frequently repeated, in 
pill, or diluted with mucilage. 

For external use, from two to six drops, or more, may be 
added to a fluidounce of distilled water. 

Aqua Creasoti [Creasote Water) (5i to distilled water Oi), 
contains 3.72 minims in each fluidounce. Dose, f5j-iv. 

Creasote ointment contains half a fluidrachm of creasote in 
an ounce of lard. 

ACIDUM CARBOLICUM — CARBOLIC ACID. 

This substance, termed also phenic acid, phenylic acid, and 
phenylic alcohol, is. a product of the distillation of coal-tar oil. 

Impure Carbolic Acid (Acidum Carbolicum Impurum), 
is made by treating the impure coal-tar of commerce with a 
weak alkaline solution, when it is resolved, on the addition of 
water into a light oil and a heavier alkaline liquid ; the latter 
is separated and neutralized with muriatic acid, and the impure 
carbolic acid, which is disengaged, is afterwards distilled from 
dried chloride of calcium, to remove water, when, upon exposing 
the distillate to a low temperature, carbolic acid congeals in the 
form of a colourless crystalline mass. 

In its pure state, it is solid at ordinary temperatures, crys- 
tallizing in minute plates or long rhomboidal needles, white or 
colourless, of a peculiar empyreumatic odour like that of crea- 
sote (but not identical with it), and an acrid burning taste ; 
if even slightly impure, it has a reddish colour, or will acquire 
it, upon exposure. Its sp. gr. is 1.065, and it deliquesces upon 

11 



162 MATERIA MEDICA. 

exposure, and readily assumes the liquid state, in the presence 
of a little water, without dissolving in it. When quite pure, it 
melts at 106° F., forming an oily-looking colourless liquid, 
which boils at 359° F. It is soluble in 20 parts of water, and 
very soluble in alcohol, ether, acetic acid, glycerin, and the 
fixed and volatile oils. Its solution coagulates collodion, which 
distinguishes it from creasote. Although it combines with sali- 
fiable bases, it does not act as an acid upon colours, or in neu- 
tralizing alkalies, and would be properly designated as phenylic 
alcohol, or the hydrated oxide of phenyl (C 12 H 5 ,0 + HO or 

Effects and Uses. — Carbolic acid is a local irritant, and, 
when applied to the skin or mucous membranes, produces 
severe pain, with a white eschar. Taken internally in large 
quantities, it acts as a powerful irritant poison. In small 
doses, its local effects upon the gastro-enteric mucous membrane 
resemble those of creasote, and after absorption (as shown by 
experiments upon the lower animals), it exercises a decided 
influence upon the nerve centres. Its most interesting pro- 
perty, however, is its destructive influence upon the lower forms 
of vegetable and animal life, through which it arrests fermen- 
tation, and produces a powerful disinfectant and antiseptic 
effect. It is used internally to check vomiting, as an astrin- 
gent in diarrhoea, in sarcina ventriculi, as an anthelmintic, and 
in zymotic diseases as scarlatina, diphtheria, &c. As an exter- 
nal application, its uses are still more important. It is em- 
ployed in the concentrated form as a caustic in hospital gan- 
grene, and to produce local anaesthesia, and in various forms of 
dilution, as an application in diphtheria, in cutaneous eruptions 
(especially those of organic origin), as a dressing to foul ulcers, 
abscesses, and sinuses, to compound fractures, to carbuncles, to 
burns and scalds, and, from its influence in coagulating albu- 
men, as an hoemostatic. It is also a most valuable disinfectant. 
The dose, internally, is one or two grains, or, if liquefied by 
heat, one or two drops, in sweetened water or glycerin. For 
disinfectant purposes, the impure liquid acid (which contains 
from 70 to 90 per cent, of carbolic and cresylic acids jointly, 



MINERAL ASTRINGENTS. 163 

with impurities derived from coal tar), answers very well. Car- 
bolates of sodium and potassium have been also employed. Sup- 
positories of Carbolic Acid (Suppositoria Acidi Carholiei), con- 
tain each one grain of carbolic acid. G-lycerite of Carbolic Acid 
(Grlyceritum Acidi Carbolici), is made by rubbing together 2 
troyounces of carbolic acid with half a pint of glycerin, until 
the acid is dissolved : of this 4 minims may be given internally. 
Carbolic Acid Water (Aqua Acidi Carbolici), contains 10 flui- 
drachms of the glycerite dissolved in distilled water enough to 
make the mixture measure a pint, dose, f5ss-i. Ointment of 
Carbolic Acid {TJnguentum Acidi Carbolici), contains 60 grains 
of carbolic acid in 420 grains of ointment. 

Recently, Sulpho-Carbolic Acid (C 12 H 5 0,S0 3 -f 2HO), and 
various salts of this acid have been employed. Sulpho-carbolic 
acid is thought to be a more efficient antiseptic and disinfectant 
than carbolic acid alone. The Sulpho-Carbolate of Zinc is 
believed to combine the virtues of zinc-salts and carbolic acid, 
and has been used with success internally in diarrhoea, in the 
same doses as the sulphate of zinc, and externally, in aqueous 
solution of from 3 to 6 grs. to the ounce, as an injection in 
gonorrhoea, and as a dressing for wounds and ulcers. Sulpho- 
carbolates of sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and 
quinia have also been employed ; they are recommended as an- 
tiseptics in cholera and zymotic diseases generally. The sulpho- 
carbolate of lead might be used where the acetate of lead is 
indicated and the corrective action of carbolic acid is called for, 
while its solubility in glycerin and alcohol adapt it to external 
application. 

mineral astringents. 

plumbi prieparata — preparations of lead. 

Metallic lead is considered inert. The sulphuret and sul- 
phate are probably also inactive; but, with these exceptions, 
all the compounds of lead possess more or less activity. When 
administered in therapeutical doses, they act as astringents in 
the alimentary canal, checking secretion, and causing consti- 



164 , MATERIA MEDICA. 

pation. After absorption, they produce a diminution in the 
volume and frequency of the pulse and in the activity of the 
secreting functions, and frequently arrest sanguineous dis- 
charges, both natural and artificial. In excessive doses, several 
of the saturnine compounds are irritant and corrosive poisons, 
giving rise to gastro-enteric inflammation. The proper anti- 
dotes are sulphuric acid, or some alkaline or earthy sulphate, 
in solution in a large quantity of diluent. The hydrated ses- 
quisulphuret of iron is also said to act as an antidote. The 
tests for lead are hydrosulphuric acid, and a solution of iodide 
of potassium ; the former strikes a black, and the latter a yellow 
precipitate, with soluble lead salts. 

When the system becomes impregnated with lead, either from 
the too long-continued use of its preparations medicinally, from 
drinking water drawn through lead pipes, or from exposure 
to its influence in lead-factories, &c, a peculiar kind of chronic 
poisoning is produced, which shows itself in a variety of symp- 
toms. The most' usual form of lead-poisoning is colic, some- 
times termed colica Pictorium, or painters colic, which is 
characterized by sharp abdominal pains, with hardness and 
depression of the abdominal parietes, obstinate constipation, 
nausea, vomiting, &c. Next in frequency is lead arthralgy, 
in which there are severe pains in the limbs, attended by 
cramps, hardness, and tension of the painful parts. Lead 
paralysis is another, though less common variety of the dis- 
ease, and is characterized by a loss of voluntary motion, owing 
to the want of contractility of the muscular fibres of the 
affected parts. It most frequently affects the upper extremities, 
and the extensor rather than the flexor muscles. Occasionally, 
functional disease of the brain is also observed as one of the 
consequences of lead poisoning. The absorption of lead into 
-the system is recognized by a saturnine colouration of the gums, 
of the mucous membrane of the mouth, and of the teeth. The 
antidotical treatment of chronic lead-poisoning consists in the 
internal administration of solutions of sulphuric acid and of 
soluble alkaline and earthy sulphates, and in the use of baths 
of sulphuret of potassium, dissolved in warm water, by which 



PREPARATIONS OF LEAD. 165 

the salts of lead, deposited on the skin, are converted into the 
insoluble sulphuret. The iodide of potassium is employed as 
an eliminative remedy. For lead colic, a combination of cathar- 
tics and opiates has been employed ; but the best remedy is 
alum in doses of 5j or 5ij 5 every three or four hours, dissolved 
in some demulcent liquid. In the treatment of lead palsy, 
strychnia and electricity may be used, but it is a very intracta- 
ble form of the disease. The use of sulphuric acid lemonade is 
resorted to, by workmen in lead factories, as preventive of 
lead-poisoning. Milk has been found also to answer the same 
purpose. By passing a strong solution of the sulphuret of 
potassium or of sodium, heated to the temperature of 212° F., 
through leaden pipes, the interior surface will become coated 
with an insoluble sulphuret of lead, and the water distributed 
through them will be free from contamination. 

Therapeutically ', the preparations of lead are employed as 
astringents, sedatives, and desiccants. For internal use, the 
acetate is almost exclusively employed. It is a most valuable 
remedy in hemorrhages, from its combined sedative and astrin- 
gent influence, and is also very serviceable in fluxes from the 
mucous membranes, particularly of the bowels. Topically, 
lead washes are employed to relieve superficial inflammation, 
to arrest morbid discharges, and as desiccants. They are 
objectionable, however, as eye-washes, from their often forming 
precipitates of lead upon the cornea, which are highly inju- 
rious. 

Plumbi Acetas (Acetate of Lead). This salt (PbO,C 4 H 3 
3 -}-3HO), known also as Saccharum Saturni or Sugar of 
Lead, is made by immersing lead in distilled vinegar, or litharge 
in pyroligneous or crude acetic acid. It occurs in colourless, 
needle-shaped crystals, which effloresce on exposure to the air. 
They have an acetous odour, and a sweetish, astringent taste, 
and are soluble in both water and alcohol. The mineral acids 
and their soluble salts, the alkalies and alkaline earths, and 
vegetable astringents, are incompatible with acetate of lead. 

Effects and Uses. — The effects of this salt are those of the 
saturnine preparations, which have been already described. 



166 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Its medicinal influence is sedative and astringent. In hemor- 
rhages, it is more employed internally than any other remedy, 
usually in combination with opium. And this combination is 
also much resorted to in the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, 
and cholera, and may be prescribed with advantage to arrest 
the secretion of bronchitis and the night sweats of phthisis, 
and in the cure of internal aneurism. In yellow fever, it is 
employed to check the hemorrhagic condition of the gastric 
mucous membrane. It is a dangerous remedy in chronic dis- 
eases, from the liability to lead-poisoning. As a topical remedy, 
acetate of lead, in aqueous solution, is extensively employed to 
relieve inflammation and diminish morbid discharges. 

Dose, gr. j or ij to gr. viij or x, two or three times a day. 
When applied to mucous membranes, the strength of the solu- 
tion may be gr. ss to gr. j or ij, to water fgj — for phlegmonous 
inflammation, 5ij to water Oj. Suppositories of Lead (Sup- 
positoria Plumbi,) contain each 3 grains of acetate of lead ; 
for suppositories of lead and opium, see p. 51. 

Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis (Solution oj- Subacetate of 
Lead). This preparation, frequently termed Goulard's Ex- 
tract, is an aqueous solution of the diacetate of lead (2PbO, 
C 4 H 3 3 ), and is made by boiling acetate of lead and litharge 
in distilled water. It is a colourless liquid, of sp. gr. 1. 267, 
which is decomposed on exposure to the air, with the formation 
of insoluble carbonate of lead, and occasions a dense white pre- 
cipitate with solution of gum. In other respects it resembles 
a solution of acetate of lead. 

Uses. — It is chiefly employed, diluted, to promote the 
resolution of external inflammation and arrest discharges from 
suppurating, ulcerated, and mucous surfaces. The officinal 
dilution is Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis Dilutus, commonly known 
as lead water, and consists of solution f*5iij, to distilled water 
Oj. Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, or Goulard's Cerate is made 
by mixing four troyounces of melted white wax with seven troy- 
ounces of olive oil, afterwards adding two fluidounces and a 
half of Goulard's extract, and thirty grains of camphor dis- 



PREPARATIONS OF LEAD. 167 

solved in a troyounce of olive oil; it is an admirable dressing 
to excoriated and blistered surfaces, burns, scalds, &c. 

Plumbi Iodidum (Iodide of Lead) (Pbl), is made by the 
double reaction of solutions of nitrate of lead and iodide of 
potassium. It is a bright-yellow, heavy, inodorous powder, 
volatilizable by heat, sparingly soluble in cold water, but more 
soluble in boiling water. It is chiefly used to reduce the volume 
of indolent tumours, and may be given internally in the dose of 
gr. iij or iv, or more, in pill ; but it is principally employed ex- 
ternally in the form of ointment (5j to ointment 420 grains). 

Plumbi Nitras (Nitrate of Lead) (PbO,N0 5 ) made by dis- 
solving litharge in diluted nitric acid, occurs in white, nearly 
opaque, octohedral crystals, permanent in the air, of a sweet 
astringent taste, and soluble in water and alcohol. It may be 
given internally, as a sedative astringent, in doses of gr. \ to 
gr. j, twice or thrice daily, in pill or solution. But its principal 
use is as a topical agent in the treatment of wounds, ulcers, and 
cutaneous affections. Ledoyens Disinfecting Fluid is a solution 
of nitrate of lead 5j in water f5j. 

Plumbi Oxidum (Oxide of Lead) (PbO) or Litharge, is ob- 
tained in the process for extracting silver from argentiferous 
galenas. It occurs in minute yellowish or orange-coloured scales, 
insoluble in water, and is never employed internally. It is 
sometimes sprinkled over ulcers, but its chief use is in the pre- 
paration of JEmplastrum Plumbi or Lead Plaster (called also 
diachylon), which is made by boiling litharge (thirty troy- 
ounces) with olive oil (fifty-six troy ounces) and water, and is, 
chemically, a mixture of oleate and margarate of lead. It 
serves as a basis for most of the other plasters. JEmplastrum 
Saponis (Soap Plaster), made by rubbing up soap (four troy- 
ounces) with lead plaster (thirty-six troyounces), is an excellent 
discutient. Soap Cerate is made by melting together two troy- 
ounces of soap plaster and two troyounces and a half of yellow 
wax, and afterwards adding four troyounces of olive oil. 

Plumbi Carbonas (Carbonate of Lead), or White Lead 
(PbO,C0 2 ) is manufactured in this country by exposing lead to 
the fumes of vinegar or acetic acid,' carbonic acid being derived 



168 MATEEIA MEDICA. 

from the fermentation of tan, in which the pots containing lead 
are packed ; acetate of the protoxide of lead, as formed, is con- 
verted into carbonate. It is a white powder, without smell or 
taste, and insoluble in water, and as it occurs in commerce, is a 
compound of the carbonate and hydrate of lead (2PbO,C0 2 -f 
PbO,HO). It is never administered internally, but it is em- 
ployed as a dusting powder — though there is danger of its ab- 
1 sorption. Unguentiim Plumbi Garbonatis (60 grains to oint- 
ment 420 grains), is a good application to burns, &c. White 
paint is used for the same purpose. 



ALUME N — A LUM. 

Alum is a double salt, a sulphate of aluminium and ammo- 
nium (Al 2 3 ,3S0 3 +NH 4 0,S0 3 +24HO). It is found native in 
Italy, in the neighbourhood of Rome, but is usually manufac- 
tured from alum ores, and sometimes by the direct combination 
of its constituents. It crystallizes in regular octohedrons; but 
it is commonly found in the shops in large, colourless, trans- 
parent crystalline masses, without any regular form. It has 
an astringent and sweetish, acid taste ; by exposure to the air 
it slowly effloresces; it is soluble in cold water, and more so in 
boiling water ; and when heated, it undergoes the watery fusion, 
swells up, gives out its water of crystallization, and is converted 
into a white, spongy mass, called dried alum. The alkalies 
and their carbonates, lime-solution, magnesia and its carbonate, 
tartrate of potassium, acetate of lead, and the vegetable as- 
tringents, are incoinpatible with alum. 

Besides the ammonia alum, there are varieties in which the 
ammonia is replaced by some other base, as potassa or soda ; 
the alum of commerce was formerly the sulphate of aluminium 
and potassium (AL 2 3 ,3S0 3 +KO,S0 3 -f 24HO), but this has 
been superseded by ammonia alum. 

Physiological Effects. — The immediate topical effect of alum 
is that of a powerful astringent, in virtue of a chemical action 
on the tissues. When it is applied to a part, in large quan- 



ALUM. 169 

tities, the astriction is soon followed by irritation ; and thus, 
taken internally in excessive doses, it gives rise to vomiting, 
griping, purging, and even inflammation of the gastro-enteric 
mucous membrane. After its absorption, it acts as an astrin- 
gent on the system generally, and produces astriction of the 
tissues and fibres, and a diminution of secretion. 

Medicinal Uses. — Alum is employed internally in hemor- 
rhages, chronic diarrhoea, colliquative sweating, diabetes, &c, 
and it is sometimes combined with cubeb in the treatment of 
gleet, gonorrhoea, and leucorrhoea. It has been recommended 
in dilatation of the heart and aneurism of the aorta, and has 
also been given as an emetic in croup. Its use in lead colic 
has been alluded to. As a topical remedy, it is extremely 
valuable as an astringent antiphlogistic, in ophthalmia, diphthe- 
ria, tonsillitis, &c. ; to produce contraction of the tissues, in 
relaxation of the uvula, prolapsus ani, &c. ; as a styptic in 
hemorrhages ; and to arrest excessive secretion from the mu- 
cous surfaces. 

Dose, gr. x. to 3j or 3ij, in powder, or solution, or made into 
pills, with some tonic extract, and combined with an aromatic, as 
nutmeg,.to prevent nausea. It may be agreeably given in the form 
of whey, prepared by boiling 5ij with milk Oj, and«straining, of 
which the dose is f5ij. Topically, it is employed in the forms 
of powder, solution, and poultice, the latter of which is made 
by rubbing up whites of eggs with alum, and is applied to the 
eye in ophthalmia, between folds of linen. Dried alum (alumen 
exsiccatum), is employed internally in the dose of gr. v-x, and 
externally as a mild escharotic. 

Aluminii Sulphas (Sulphate of Aluminium), is employed 
externally as an astringent and antiseptic application to ulcers, 
an injection in gonorrhoea, &c. The aqueous solution is used 
to preserve bodies for dissection. A paste, made of a mixture 
of sulphate of aluminium and sp. nitrous ether, applied to the 
cavity of a carious teeth, is a good remedy for toothache. 



170 MATERIA MEDICA. 



ORDER VI. — STIMULANTS. 

Stimulants are medicines, which produce a rapid and tem- 
porary exaltation of the vital functions. Their influence is 
most conspicuous in conditions of morbid depression, when a 
marked tolerance of their action is established, and large 
amounts are borne. In health, when the powers of the system 
are at the normal standard, stimulants soon induce depression. 
Topically, they irritate and inflame the parts to which they are 
applied, and hence are classed with irritants. 

They are employed principally in disorders known as as- 
thenic, and in all conditions of the system attended with ex- 
haustion. From their action in arousing the energies of the 
nervous system, they exercise a control over many nervous 
disorders, particularly those of a spasmodic nature. They are 
also frequently given with a view to their action on some one or 
other of the secretions. As stimulants to the gastro-intestinal 
canal, they are administered to promote digestion (when they 
are called stomachics), and to dispel flatulence (when they are 
known as carminatives). Topically, they are employed as 
rubefacients, vesicants, &c. 

The more powerful and rapid stimulants are called diffusible. 
In overdoses, they act as violent narcotics and sedatives. The 
diffusible stimuli usually employed are vinous and spirituous 
liquors, and the preparations of ammonia. Vegetable stimu- 
lants which contain a volatile oil, are termed aromatics, and are 
usually given as stomachics and carminatives. Their volatile 
oils are also employed as local irritants. 



DIFFUSIBLE STIMULANTS. 
ALCOHOL. 

Alcohol is a product which results from a process termed the 
vinous fermentation, in substances containing grape-sugar. At 
a temperature of 80° F., the presence of a fermenting body 



PREPARATIONS OF ALCOHOL. 171 

converts a solution of grape-sugar into alcohol and carbonic 
acid. Starchy substances, being convertible into grape-sugar, 
also yield alcohol. Alcohol is obtained from vinous or fer- 
mented liquors, by repeated distillation. It is, chemically, a 
hydrated oxide of ethyl, C 4 H 6 2 , or C 4 H 5 + HO. For officinal 
purposes, it should be of the specific gravity 0.835, when it 
contains about fifteen per cent, of water. It is a colourless, 
inflammable liquid, wholly vaporizable by heat, and unites in all 
proportions with water and ether. Contamination of fusel oil 
or amylic alcohol may be detected by agitation with concen- 
trated sulphuric acid, when, if the alcohol become coloured, the 
presence of the impurity is indicated in proportion to the depth 
of the colour ; or solution of nitrate of silver, with exposure 
to a bright light, will convert fusel oil into a black powder. 
A stronger alcohol, alcohol fortius, sp. gr. 0.817, is made by 
shaking officinal alcohol with heated carbonate of potassium. 
This is free from water and fusel oil, and is used for pharma- 
ceutical purposes. 

Physiological Effects. — Alcohol is the intoxicating ingredient 
of all vinous and spirituous liquors. It is a powerful diffusible 
stimulant, the effects of which are most conspicuous in disease, 
while in health, it soon begins to produce narcosis — in small 
doses, exciting the vascular and nervous systems, increasing the 
heat of the body, exhilarating the mental faculties, and stimu- 
lating the secretions ; in larger amounts, disordering the stomach, 
destroying the control of the will over the voluntary muscles, and 
inducing incoherence, delirium, sopor, or other form of derange- 
ment of the intellectual functions ; and in excessive quantity, 
acting as a narcotic poison, producing coma and death. The 
treatment in cases of poisoning from alcohol is the same as that 
which is to be pursued in cases of poisoning from opium. 
Ammonia is a physiological antidote. The habitual use of al- 
coholic narcotics in excess gives rise to a well-known train of 
mental and physical disorders : dyspepsia, visceral obstructions, 
cirrhosis of the liver, gout, dropsy, mania-a-potu, paralysis, 
and even confirmed insanity. Topically, alcohol acts as an ir- 
ritant. 



172 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Medicinal Uses. — Alcohol, in the form of vinous and spirit- 
uous liquors, is employed to rouse and support the system in 
asphyxia, syncope, the latter stages of acute attacks, typhoid 
and typhus fevers, asthenic and malignant diseases, exhausting 
hemorrhages and suppurations, gangrene, to counteract the 
effects of the bites of venomous reptiles, in mania-a-potu, and 
in poisoning from digitalis, tobacco, and other narcotics : also 
as a stomachic in colic, flatulence, indigestion, nausea, &c. 
In typhoid and typhus fevers, alcohol probably acts as a phy- 
siological antidote to the blood-poison, and should be given in the 
earliest stage of the fevers. As a topical application, alcohol 
is used to produce cold by its evaporation ; as a styptic : to 
harden the cuticle over delicate parts ; and as a stimulant. 
Mixed with white of eggs, it forms a good coating to bed-sores. 

Alcohol Dilutum (Diluted Alcohol), or Proof Spirit, con- 
sists of equal parts of alcohol and distilled water, and has a 
sp. gr. 0.941. It is used exclusively for pharmaceutical pur- 
poses. 

Vinum (Wine). The fermented juice of the grape consists 
of water and alcohol in varying proportions, with volatile oil, 
cenanthic acid and ether, tannic, malic, and other acids, bitar- 
trate of potassium, &c. Wine loses most of its cream of tartar 
by age. It is employed medicinally in typhus and typhoid 
fevers, exhausting chronic diseases, extensive suppurations, 
gangrene, &c. In typh-fevers, it constitutes our chief thera- 
peutic resource, and may be administered to the amount of one 
or two pints, in the twenty-four hours, either pure, or in the 
form of ivine-ivliey . This is made by adding from a gill to half 
a pint of white wine to a pint of boiling milk, separating the 
curd from the whey, and flavouring with sugar and spices. 

The officinal wines are Vinum Xericum (Sherry Wine), and 
Vinum Portense (Port Wine). Port contains tannic acid, 
and is preferred in dysentery, diarrhoea. &c, for its astringency. 
Madeira, which is the strongest of the white wines, is an ex- 
cellent stimulant, but may be objectionable from its acidity. 
Champagne is a pleasant stimulant, where gastric irritability is 
present. Madeira and Port contain about 23 per cent, of alco- 



PREPARATIONS OF AMMONIA. 173 

hoi ; Sherry, 19 per cent. ; Champagne, 13 per cent. As ar- 
ticles of diet, the stronger wines, when used in excess, often 
produce gout, dropsy, and diseases of the kidneys and liver; 
and, except in advanced age, and in feeble constitutions, or 
where the tuberculous diathesis exists, cannot but be considered 
as objectionable. 

The malt liquors are useful where more permanent stimuli are 
called for, as in diseases tending to emaciation, chronic ab- 
scesses, &c. The best are porter and ale. 

Spiritus Vini Gallict [Brandy], is obtained by the distil- 
lation of wine. It contains about 50 per cent, of alcohol, with 
water, volatile oil, tannic acid, colouring matter, &c. It is the 
best stimulus, where a rapid and decided impression is called 
for, as in collapse, syncope, &c. ; and, from the tannic acid 
which it contains, is useful in bowel complaints. Spiritus 
Frumenti (Whisky), obtained from fermented grain by distilla- 
tion, is of about the same alcoholic strength as brandy, and may 
be substituted for it ; it does not contain tannic acid. Rum 
(spiritus saecliari), the ardent spirit obtained from sugar, is 
more sudorific than brandy. Gin (Spiritus Geneva?), is corn 
spirit flavored with oil of juniper ; and, owing to the oil of 
juniper, which it holds in solution, it is an active diuretic as 
well as stimulant. Arrack, the spirit of Eastern countries, is 
prepared from a fermented infusion of rice. Spiritus Myrcia 
(Spirit of Myrcia), Bay-rum, the spirit obtained by distilling 
rum with the leaves of myrcia acris, is a refreshing local appli- 
cation. 



AMMONIA PR^PAEATA — PREPARATIONS OF 

AMMONIA. 

Ammonia is a gaseous compound of hydrogen and nitrogen 
(NH 3 or NH 4 0), usually obtained by the action of lime on sal 
ammoniac (or chloride of ammonium). It is a powerful stimu- 
lant and local irritant, but is rarely used in medicine. The 
following preparations of Ammonia are employed as diffusible 
stimuli : 



174 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Aqua Ammonia Fortior {Stronger Water of Ammonia). 
This is an aqueous solution of ammonia, of the specific gravity 
0.900. It is a colourless liquid, wholly volatilizable by heat, of 
a caustic, acrid taste, and a very pungent odour of ammonia; 
and is too strong for medicinal use, internally, in its unmixed 
state, containing 26 per cent, of gaseous ammonia. It is a 
powerful corrosive poison, for which the diluted acids, as vine- 
gar, lemon juice, &c, are the proper antidotes. It is used ex- 
ternally as a vesicant, and has the advantage over cantharides 
of a more speedy operation and non-aifection of the urinary 
organs. 

Aqua Ammonite ( Water of Ammonia), has a specific gravity 
of 0.960, containing nearly 10 per cent, of ammonia, and is 
employed as a stimulant, sudorific, antacid, and rubefacient. 
As a stimulant, ammonia is admirably adapted for speedily 
rousing the action of the vascular and respiratory systems, espe- 
cially when it is an object at the same time to promote the action 
of the skin. For this purpose it is employed in low forms of 
disease, particularly in the typhoid exanthemata, in syncope, in 
asphyxia from narcotic poisons, and to counteract the effects of 
the bites of venomous reptiles. In dyspepsia, it is useful with 
a view to the relief both of acidity and flatulence. For inter- 
nal use, other preparations of ammonia are generally preferred, 
and this is used chiefly as a rubefacient. Dose, internally, 
ten to thirty drops, largely diluted. As a rubefacient, the 
officinal liniment may be used (a fluidounce of water of ammo- 
nia to two troyounces of olive oil). 

Spiritus Ammonle [Spirit of Ammonia) is a solution of 
ammonia in alcohol. It is given as a stimulant, antispasmodic, 
and carminative, in the dose of ten to thirty drops, diluted with 
water. But a pleasanter preparation, with similar proper- 
ties, is 

Spiritus Ammonije Aromaticus {Aromatic Spirit of Am- 
monia). This is made by dissolving a troyounce of carbonate 
of ammonium in three fluidounces of water of ammonia, pre- 
viously mixed with four fluidounces of water, then dissolving 
two fluidrachms and a half of oil of lemon, forty minims of oil 



ARNICA. 175 

of nutmeg, and fifteen minims of oil of lavender, in a pint and 
a half of alcohol, afterwards mixing the two solutions, and 
adding water enough to make the whole measure two pints. It 
is a very agreeable antacid stomachic and stimulant, and may 
be given in the dose of thirty drops to f5j, or more, diluted 
with water. 

Ammonii Carbonas {Carbonate of Ammonium). This salt, 
sometimes termed volatile alkali, is a sesquicarbonate (2NH 4 0, 
3C0 2 ), and is prepared by subliming a mixture of chloride of 
ammonium and chalk. It occurs in whitish, transparent masses, 
wholly dissipated by heat, of a pungent, ammoniacal odour, an 
acrid, alkaline taste, and is soluble without residue in water. 
On exposure to the air it becomes opaque, falls into powder, 
and deteriorates by the loss of ammonia. 

Effects and Uses. — Its indications are the same as those of 
solution of ammonia, to which it is preferred for internal ex- 
hibition as a diffusible stimulant. It is especially valuable in 
pneumonia, and by some therapeutists is relied on to the ex- 
clusion of other medication in this disease. It has also been 
recommended in diabetes, and in scrofula, attended with a 
languid circulation. Dcse, gr. v to xx, in pill, or preferably 
in solution with gum and sugar. Mixed with some aromatic 
oil (as that of bergamot or lavender), it is used, as a smelling 
salt, in syncope, hysteria, &c. 

ARNICA. 

Arnica montana, Leopard's-bane (Nat. Ord. Asteracese), is 
a perennial, herbaceous plant, found in northern Germany and 
other northern countries of Europe, and also in the north- 
western portions of America. The flowers are described by 
the U. S. Pharmacopoeia as the officinal portion, but the article 
of commerce consists really of the heads, from which fre- 
quently the involucre has been removed ; they are brought 
here from Germany. They are large, of a fine orange-yellow 
colour, of a strong, disagreeable odour when fresh (which is 
diminished by desiccation), and an acrid, bitterish taste. The 



176 MATERIA MEDICA. 

root also is used in Europe. Both contain a volatile oil, and 
an alkaloid principle termed arnicina has been found in them. 
Arnica is a stimulant, with emetic and cathartic properties in 
large doses. Its effects, internally, are not very weM under- 
stood in this country, where it is little used, except externally, 
in the form of fomentation, or lotion, for the relief of bruises, 
sprains, and local paralysis. The extract {alcoholic), is given 
in doses of gr. v-x. This is chiefly used, however, in making 
a plaster (emplastrum arnica?, one part of extract to two parts 
of previously melted resin plaster). The tincture (six troy- 
ounces to v alcohol Ojss, water Oss, with, after percolation, the 
addition of diluted alcohol enough to measure Oij) is used as-a 
local stimulant, often mixed with soap liniment. 

Phosphorus is a translucent, highly inflammable, nearly 
colourless solid, resembling wax, without taste, but having a 
peculiar garlicky smell ; sp. gr. 1.8. It is insoluble in water, 
and dissolves sparingly even in the oils, ether, and alcohol, but is 
readily soluble in chloroform. It emits, when exposed to the 
air, white fumes, which are luminous in the dark. It has been 
used, in small doses, as a diffusible stimulant ; it is also diuretic 
and aphrodisiac. In overdoses, however, it is a most violent 
irritant poison, and is too dangerous for general medicinal use. 
Dose, gr. j\ to gr. \, dissolved in almond or sweet oil, chloro- 
form, ether, or oil of turpentine. It is probably converted into 
phosphoric acid in the stomach, and among the effects of its 
poisonous action, is the production of acute fatty degeneration 
of the tissues. In cases of poisoning from phosphorus, after 
the administration of an emetic, magnesia should be given, 
suspended in large quantities of water. The oil of turpentine 
is also recommended as an antidote. 

The Phosphuret of Zinc has lately been employed in cases 
where the administration of phosphorus is indicated. It is pre- 
pared by passing the vapour of phosphorus over zinc heated to 
ebullition, in a current of . dry. hydrogen, and occurs as a gray 
crystallized body, unaltered by moist air, and easily decom- 
posed in the stomach, with the evolution of phosphuretted 
hydrogen. Dose, about gr. £%. 



CAPSICUM. 17T 



AROMATICS. 



Aromatics owe their virtues to the presence of oils obtained 
from them by distillation, and termed volatile oils (plea vola- 
tilia), sometimes also distilled and essential oils. These oils 
possess, in a high degree, the odour and taste of the plants 
from which they are procured. Locally, they are powerful 
irritants, and, taken into the stomach in overdoses, act as acrid 
poisons. They pass partially into vapour at ordinary tempera- 
tures, and are completely volatilized by heat; hence, decoctions 
and extracts are improper preparations of the aromatics. The 
distilled oils are inflammable, very slightly soluble in water, 
but soluble in alcohol and ether. Their ultimate constituents 
are usually, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen ; and, on exposure 
to the air, they gradually absorb oxygen, become thicker, less 
odorous, and of a deeper colour, and are finally converted 
into resins. 

CAPSICUM. 

Capsicum or Cayenne pepper is the fruit of Capsicum an- 
nuum, C. fastigiatum, and other species of Capsicum (Nat. Ord. 
Solanacese), American tropical plants, naturalized in most warm 
climates, and cultivated in our gardens. C. annuum is an 
annual, about two feet high, with an herbaceous, crooked, 
branching stem; ovate, pointed leaves; greenish-white flowers; 
and pendulous, pod-like berries of a crimson or yellow colour, 
two or three inches long. These pods, when dried and ground, 
form Capsicum, the best of which is the African. Powdered 
Capsicum has a bright-red colour, which fades upon exposure 
to light; an aromatic, peculiar smell, and a bitterish, acrid, 
burning taste. The active principle is now believed to be an 
alkaloid, which should be termed capsieia ; it is slightly soluble 
in water, but very much so in alcohol, ether, and oil of tur- 
pentine. 

Effects and Uses. — Capsicum is principally employed as a 
condiment and stomachic, and is very useful in torpid conditions 

12 



178 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of the digestive organs, or as an adjunct to other remedies, to 
rouse the susceptibility of the stomach. Its constitutional 
effect is not in proportion to its local effect, and it is therefore 
of no great efficiency as a diffusible stimulant. It has, however, 
been recommended in cynanche maligna and scarlatina angi- 
nosa. It is a good stomachic in the dyspepsia of drunkards. 
As a gargle, it is much employed in the sore throat of scarla- 
tina, and also as a cataplasm to cause counter-irritation. Dose 
of the powder ; gr. v. to gr. x, in pill ; of the tincture (a troy- 
ounce to diluted alcohol Oij), f5j or f'Sij ; of the infusion, 
which is used also for a gargle (half a troyounce to boiling 
water Oj) f§ss. The oleoresin is a powerful rubefacient, and 
may be given internally in the dose of a drop. 



PIPER — BLACK PEPPER. 

Black pepper is the unripe berries of Piper Nigrum (Nat. 
Ord. Piperacese), a vine of the East Indies. The berries are 
gathered before they are quite ripe, and dried in the sun. 
They are wrinkled and black, in consequence of the drying of 
the pulp over the grayish-white seed, and in this state are known 
as black pepper. If permitted to ripen, and soaked in water 
till the outer coat is removed, they constitute white pepper. 
Pepper has an aromatic, peculiar odour, and a hot, spicy, pun- 
gent taste. Its properties are taken up by alcohol and ether, 
and partially by water. It contains a volatile oil, an acrid 
resin, and a peculiar alkaloid crystalline principle, called 
piperin, which has been used as an anti-intermittent remedy. 

Effects and Uses. — Pepper is a warm carminative stimulant, 
chiefly employed as a condiment ; but it is also a useful stom- 
achic, and a good adjunct to bark in the treatment of intermit- 
tent fevers. Dose, gr. v to gr. xx« Of the oleoresin the dose 
is 1-3 drops. 



CINNAMON. 179 

CINNAMOMUM — CINNAMON. 

There are two varieties of cinnamon : Ceylon cinnamon, 
which is the prepared bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum {Nat. 
Ord. Lauracese), a tree of Ceylon and Java ; and China Cinna- 
mon, or Cassia, the prepared bark of Cinnamomum aromaticum 
(Nat. Ord. Lauracese), a tree of China. The most esteemed is 
the Ceylon cinnamon. To obtain this, the bark is peeled from 
branches which are three years old ; the epidermis is afterwards 
scraped off; the smaller quills are introduced into the larger 
ones, and they are then dried in the sun and made into bundles. 
It is found in the shops in long, cylindrical pieces, which are 
very thin and smooth, and of a yellow-brown colour, and a 
splintery fracture. It has a fragrant odour, and a warm, 
sweetish, aromatic, slightly astringent taste. Its constituents 
are volatile oil, a little tannic acid, mucilage, an acid, lignin, 
&c. The greater part, however, of the cinnamon brought to 
this country is the cassia cinnamon. It has the general appear- 
ance, smell, and taste of true cinnamon. But its substance is 
thicker, its texture coarser, its fracture shorter, its colour 
darker, browner, and duller, and its flavour less sweet, and more 
pungent and astringent. Its properties are identical with 
those of the Ceylon variety. 

Effects and Uses. — Cinnamon is an aromatic stimulant, with 
a slight astringency. It is used chiefly as a carminative, and 
as an addition to other medicines. Dose, gr. x to 5ss ; of the 
tincture (three troyounces to two measures of alcohol with one 
measure of water Oij), the dose is foj to f5iij- Oleum cinna- 
momi (oil of cinnamon), is of a light-yellow colour, which deepens 
by exposure to the air, with the development of an acid, termed 
cinnamic ; dose, one or two drops. Aqua cinnamomi (cinna- 
mon water), is prepared by rubbing up the oil with carbonate 
of magnesium, adding distilled water, and filtering.* It is used 
as a vehicle for other medicines. Spiritus cinnamomi (spirit of 

*The waters of the aromatic oils are all made by rubbing up half a fluid- 
drachm of the oil with 60 grains of carbonate of magnesium, then with two 
pints of distilled water, and afterwards filtering. 



180 MATERIA MEDICA. 

cinnamon), contains one part of the oil dissolved in fifteen parts 
of stronger alcohol ; dose, ten to twenty drops. Cinnamon 
enters into a large number of preparations. 



MYRISTICA — NUTMEG. 
MACIS — MACE. 

These products are portions of the fruit of Myristica fra- 
grans (Nat. Ord. Myristicaceae), a tree of the Moluccas, culti- 
vated also in Java and Sumatra, and other parts of the East 
Indies, and introduced into the isles of France and Bourbon, 
and several of the West India islands. It bears a pyriform 
fruit, about the size of a small peach, which has a fleshy peri- 
carp, opened by two longitudinal valves. Within this is the 
ARILLUS, a scarlet reticulated membrane, which, when dry, 
becomes yellow-broAvn and brittle, and is termed mace. The 
kernels of the fruit are the nutmegs. 

They are oval, of the size of an olive, of a greyish-brown 
colour, marked with furrows ; and to preserve them from the 
attacks of an insect, they are steeped in a mixture of lime and 
water. Mace has a pleasant, aromatic smell, and a warm, bit- 
terish, pungent taste. Nutmegs have a delightfully fragrant 
odour, and a warm, aromatic, grateful taste. 

Nutmegs contain a volatile oil, and by expression yield a 
fatty substance, known as "butter of nutmegs." From mace, 
also, a volatile oil is obtained by distillation. 

Effects and Uses. — Nutmeg is one of the most agreeable of 
the aromatic stimulants, and is much employed for its carmina- 
tive virtues, also as a flavouring ingredient, and to obviate the 
griping effects of cathartics. It is said to have narcotic pro- 
perties, and hence may be useful in bowel complaints. Mace 
is chiefly employed as a condiment. Dose of either, 3j to 
5ss. Oleum myristicw (oil of nutmeg), is of a pale straw-colour; 
dose 2 or 3 drops. Spiritus myristicaz is made by dissolving a fluid- 
ounce of the oil in three pints of stronger alcohol ; dose, f5j or 
fSij. 



PIMENTO. 181 



CARYOPHYLLUS — CLOVES. 

Cloves are the unexpanded flowers of Caryophyllus aro- 
maticus (Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae), an evergreen tree of the Mo- 
luccas. They are from five to ten lines long, and from one 
line to one line and a half thick, the corolla forming a ball or 
sphere at the top, and the calyx a tapering, somewhat quadran- 
gular base, resembling a nail, whence the common name, from 
the French clou. When good, they are of a dark-brown colour, 
with a yellowish-red tint ; they have a strong, fragrant odour, 
a hot acrid taste, and, when pressed with the nail, should give 
out oil. They contain a volatile oil, tannic acid, resin, &c, 
and two crystalline principles, termed caryophyllin and eugenin; 
the oil consists of two oils, a heavy oil and a light oil, the heavy 
oil being termed caryophyllic acid. 

Effects and Uses. — Cloves are among the most stimulating 
of the aromatics, but are chiefly used as a flavouring ingredient 
and as a condiment. Dose, gr. v to gr. x. The infusion (5ij, 
to boiling water Oj) is a warm, grateful stomachic. The oil, 
oleum caryophylli, is pale, or yellowish, becoming darker by 
age; dose, 2 to 6 drops. 



PIMENT A — P IMENTO. 

Pimento, called also Allspice, is the unripe berries of 
Eugenia Pimenta (Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae), a handsome evergreen 
tree of the West Indies and South America. It comes exclu- 
sively from Jamaica, and consists of round, brown, roughish 
berries, rather larger than black peppercorns, with an external 
hard, brittle shell, inclosing two dark-brown seeds. They have 
an aromatic, agreeable smell, and a strong, clove-like taste. 
They are principally used as a condiment. The oil, oleum 
pimentce 1 has a brownish-red colour, and consists of a light and 
heavy oil, the latter identical with caryophyllic acid ; dose, 3 to 
6 drops. 



182 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Oleum Cajuputi (Oil of Cajeput). The volatile oil of the 
leaves of Melaleuca Cajuputi (Nat. Ord. Myrtacese), a tree of 
the Moluccas, is a powerful diffusible aromatic stimulant, much 
employed in Eastern countries, and of late coming into use in 
the United States. It is a transparent oil, of a fine green 
colour, a lively penetrating odour, analogous to that of camphor 
and cardamon, and a warm, pungent taste. It is an admirable 
stomachic, for the relief of nausea, and is also used as an anti- 
spasmodic stimulant in low fevers, spasmodic cholera, &c. ; 
dose, 1 to 5 drops. 



OLEUM TEREBINT'HINiE — OIL OE TURPENTINE. 

Oil of turpentine, commonly called spirit of turpentine, is 
obtained by distillation from the turpentine of Pinus palustris 
and other species of Pinus (Nat. Ord. Pinaceae). When pure, it is 
a limpid, colourless, volatile, and inflammable liquid, of a strong, 
penetrating, peculiar odour, and a hot, pungent, bitterish taste. 
It is lighter than water, very slightly soluble in it, less soluble 
in alcohol than most other volatile oils, and readily soluble in 
ether. 

Effects and Uses. — Oil of turpentine is stimulant, diuretic, 
blennorrhetic, and anthelmintic, and, externally, rubefacient. 
As a stimulant, it is a very valuable remedy in typhoid fever, 
particularly where the abdomen is tympanitic, the tongue dry, 
and the bowels are ulcerated. It is employed also with advan- 
tage in morbid discharges from mucous membranes, hemor- 
rhages, rheumatism, nervous disorders, atonic dropsy, gleet, 
nephritic and calculous affections, and as an anthelmintic in 
taenia. Enemata of the oil of turpentine are particularly 
serviceable for the relief of tympanites. Externally, it is 
used for purposes of counter -irritation. 

Dose, as a stimulant or diuretic, five to thirty drops, re- 
peated; as an anthelmintic or as an enema, f^ss to f§ij. 



GINGER. 18 



ZINGIBE R — G I N G E R . 



Ginger is the rhizome of Zingiber officinale (Nat. Ord. Zingi- 
beracese) a perennial, herbaceous plant, growing to the height 
of two or three feet, with long, lanceolate leaves and yellow 
flowers. Its native country is unknown : but it has been culti- 
vated in Asia from time immemorial, and was early introduced 
into the tropical regions of America. Ginger root occurs 
in flattish, jointed, branched or lobed, palmate pieces, which 
rarely exceed four inches in length. In the young state, the 
roots are preserved in sugar, and form a very pleasant sweet- 
meat. When old, they are taken up, scalded in hot water, and 
dried, when they are known as black ginger. Sometimes they are 
scraped, previously to being dried, and are then called white or 
Jamaica ginger. The former comes from the East Indies; the 
latter from the West Indies. The powder of black ginger is 
yellowish-broAvn ; that of white ginger, yellowish-white. Both 
varieties have a powerful, peculiar odour, and a warm, pungent, 
aromatic taste. They impart their virtues to water and alcohol, 
and contain a pale-yellow volatile oil, resin, starch, &c. 

Effects and Uses.— Ginger is a pungent, aromatic stimulant, 
much employed as a stomachic in flatulency, and spasm of the 
stomach and bowels. It is also used as a condiment, and to 
correct the unpleasant taste and nauseating qualities of other 
medicines. A paste made of the powder and warm water is 
used as a counter-irritant. Dose, gr. x to gr. xx, in pill. The 
officinal preparations are : infusion (half a troy ounce to boiling 
water Oj), dose foij; tincture (eight troyounces to alcohol Oij), 
dose TTjx-xx ; fluid extract — dose, 20 to 30 drops ; syrup 
(made by rubbing up a fluidounce of the fluid extract with 160 
grains of carbonate of magnesium, 2 troyounces of sugar, and 
42 fluidounces of water, and filtering, and then dissolving in 
the liquid 70 ounces of sugar at a gentle heat); oleoresin — dose, 
1 to 2 drops; and troches (made by mixing the tincture (foj) 
with tragacanth (5ij), sugar (ten troyounces), and a little syrup 
of ginger, and dividing into 240 troches). 



184 MATERIA MEDICA. 



CARDAMOMUM — CARDAMOM. 

Cardamom is the fruit of Elettaria Cardamomum (Nat. 
Ord. Zingiberaceae), a perennial plant, from six to nine feet 
high, found in the mountainous parts of Malabar. Three 
varieties of Malabar cardamons are known in commerce : shorts, 
short-longs, and long-longs, all furnished by the same plant. 
They are ovate-oblong, from three to ten lines long, coriaceous, 
ribbed, and of a grayish or brownish-yellow colour ; and contain 
a number of blackish or reddish-brown seeds, which have a 
pleasant, aromatic odour, and a warm, aromatic, agreeable 
taste. They yield a colourless volatile oil, a fixed oil, starch, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — Cardamom is a very agreeable aromatic, 
devoid of acridity, and is much employed as a stomachic and 
carminative, and as an adjuvant and corrective of other medi- 
cines ; dose gr. v-x. The tincture (four troy ounces to diluted 
alcohol Oij) is the preparation chiefly used ; dose, f5j or f5ij. 
The compound tincture contains cardamom (360 grains), and 
also caraway (120 grains), cinnamon (300 grains), cochineal (60 
grains), percolated with diluted alcohol till two pints and six 
fluidounces of tincture are obtained, which is afterwards mixed 
with two troyounces of clarified honey. 

Pulvis Aromaticus (Aromatic Powder), consists of cinna- 
mon and ginger, each two parts, cardamom seeds and nutmeg, 
each one part. Dose, gr. x to xxx. Confectio aromatica 
(aromatic confection), consists of aromatic powder rubbed up 
with an equal part of clarified honey ; it is a pleasant vehicle 
for other medicines. 



CALAMUS — SWEET FLAG. 

The rhizome of Acorus Calamus (Nat. Ord. Orontiaceae), an 
indigenous marshy plant, with long, sword- shaped, radical 
leaves, is a valuable aromatic stimulant, with some tonic pro- 
perties. It is found in the shops in somewhat flattened pieces, 
deprived of their epidermis, wrinkled, and of a yellowish-colour, 



GAULTHERIA. 



185 



and has a strong, fragrant odour, and a warm, bitterish, aro- 
matic taste. It contains volatile oil, resin, extractive, &c. 

Fig. 16. 




Dose, 3j to 5j> or it may be given in infusion (a troyounce to 
boiling water Oj) — not officinal. 



GAULTHERIA. 



Gaultheria procumbens, Partridge-berry, Deer-berry or Tea- 
berry [Nat. Orel. Ericaceae), is a small indigenous evergreen 



186 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



plant, with one, and sometimes two reddish stems, a few inches 
in height, bright-green, obovate, coriaceous, serrulated leaves, 



Fisr. 17. 




and white, ovate, five-toothed flowers, followed by scarlet ber- 
ries. The leaves are the officinal portion, and contain a very 
stimulant volatile oil {oley/m gaultherice), which, when first dis- 
tilled, is colourless, but'gradually becomes reddish, and is dis- 
tinguished as being the heaviest of the volatile oils. An infu- 
sion of the leaves, and an essence or alcoholic solution of the 
oil, are in very general popular use as carminatives and stoma- 
chics. 



AURANTII AMARI CORTEX — BITTER ORANGE PEEL. 
AURANTII DULCIS CORTEX — SWEET ORANGE PEEL. 

The rind of the fruit of Citrus vulgaris, or Bitter Orange, 
and Citrus aurantium, or Sweet Orange (Nat Ord. Aurantiacese), 
is much employed as a flavouring addition to other medicines. 
The flowers (aurantii flores) yield the delightful volatile oil 



PEPPERMINT. 187 

termed oil of neroli, and are used in the form of orange flower 
water [aqua aurantii florum), as an agreeable vehicle, possessing 
slight antispasmodic virtues ; syrup of orange flowers is made 
bj dissolving 36 troyounces of sugar in 20 fluidounces of orange 
flower water ; confection of orange peel (made by beating 12 
troyounces of the grated sweet orange peel with 36 troyounces 
of sugar), and syrup of orange peel, are used as excipients and 
vehicles for medicines of unpleasant flavour ; tincture of (bitter) 
orange peel contains 4 troyounces in 2 pints of diluted alcohol — 
dose, f5i-ij. 

The following aromatics, of the natural order Lamiace^:, are 
pleasant carminatives and stomachics : 

Lavandula [Lavender). The flowers of Lavandula vera, 
a small European shrub, cultivated in our gardens, about two 
feet high, with linear or lanceolate leaves, and purplish-gray 
flowers, which are gathered in June, and dried in the shade. 
They have an agreeable, fragrant odour, and a pungent bitter 
taste. The oil, which is of a pale-yellow colour, may be used 
in the dose of from one to five drops. But the preferred pre- 
parations are the Spirit (Spiritus Lavandulae), made by dis- 
solving afluidounce of the oil in 3 pints of stronger alcohol, and 
the Compound Spirit [Spiritus Lavandulae Qompositus), which 
contains also oil of rosemary, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and 
red saunders; dose, f5j- 

Mentha Piperita (Peppermint), and Mentha Viridis 
(Spearmiyit), are European plants, naturalized in the United 
States. The leaves and tops are employed ; they have an 
aromatic odour, and a pungent, somewhat bitter taste, followed 
by a sensation of coolness. They contain volatile oils, with 
some bitter extractive, &c. One to five drops of the oils may 
be given ; but they are usually administered in the form of 
spirit (made by dissolving a fluidounce of the oil in 15 fluid- 
ounces of stronger alcohol, and afterwards macerating 120 
grains of the mints in the solution), in the close of ten to twenty 
or forty drops. A water is made by rubbing up either of the 
oils with carbonate of magnesium and water ; the oil of pepper- 



188 MATERIA MEDICA. 

mint is the stronger of the two. Troches of peppermint are 
made by rubbing up a fluidrachm of oil of peppermint with 12 
troyounces of sugar, and with mucilage of tragacanth, forming 
a mass to be divided into 480 troches. 

Rosmarinus [Rosemary). Rosmarinus officinalis, or Rose- 
mary, a European evergreen shrub, cultivated in our gardens, 
contains a very stimulant volatile oil, which is chiefly used as an 
ingredient of rubefacient liniments. The leaves are used. 

Hedeoma {Pennyroyal). Hedeoma pulegioides, or Penny- 
royal, is an indigenous annual plant, about a foot high, with 
oblong-lanceolate, serrated leaves, and small, pale-blue flowers, 
arranged in axillary whorls. The leaves and TOPS are used, 
which contain a light-yellow essential oil, similar in properties 
to the mint oils, but somewhat more powerful. 

Monarda (Horsemint). The leaves and tops of Monarda 
punctata, or horsemint, an indigenous plant. The essential oil 
is used chiefly as a rubefacient. 

Origanum. The herb of Origanum vulgare, or common 
Marjoram. The essential oil is an ingredient in stimulating 
liniments. 

Marrubium (Horehound). Marrubium vulgare possesses 
combined stimulant, tonic, and expectorant properties, and, in 
large doses, proves laxative. It is chiefly used in cough syrups 
and candies. The leaves and tops are employed. 

Salvia (Sage). The leaves of Salvia officinalis, a European 
plant, cultivated in our gardens, are used as a condiment, and 
as a gargle in sore throat and relaxed uvula ; they are slightly 
tonic and astringent, as well as aromatic. 

Thymus (Thyme). The herb of Thymus vulgaris yields an 
essential oil, oleum thymi, which is often substituted for oil of 
origanum, and is used as an external application. 

The following aromatic seeds are derived from plants of the 
natural order Apiacejs : 

Fceniculum (Fennel). The fruit of Foeniculum dulce, a 
European plant, cultivated in our gardens. It may be used in 
infusion ; the dose of the oil is 5 to 15 drops. Fennel water is 
officinal. 



SEDATIVES. 189 

Carum {Caraway). The fruit of Carum Carui, a European 
plant, cultivated in this country. Dose of the oil, 1 to 10 
drops. 

Anisum (Anise). The fruit of Pimpinella Anisum, origi- 
nally a native of Egypt, but now cultivated throughout the 
south of Europe. Dose of the oil, 5 to 15 drops. Anise water 
is officinal. The oil of the fruit of Illicium anisatum, or Star 
Anise, an evergreen tree of Japan and China, possesses analo- 
gous properties to those of oil of anise, and is much used as a 
substitute for it. 

Coriandrum (Coriander), the fruit of Coriandrum sativum, 
an annual plant of the south of Europe. 

VANILLA. 

This is the prepared, unripe fruit of Vanilla aromatica 
(Nat. Ord. Orchidacese), a climbing plant of Cuba and Mexico. 
The pods, when gathered, are yellow, but by exposure to the 
sun, they assume a dark copper colour. They are cylindrical, 
somewhat flattened, wrinkled, six or eight inches long, three or 
four lines thick, and contain a soft, black pulp, in which 
numerous small black seeds are embedded. Vanilla has a 
strong, characteristic, highly pleasant odour, and a warm, aro- 
matic, sweetish taste ; the interior pulpy portion is most aro- 
matic. The composition of vanilla is not determined, but its 
aroma is probably due to a volatile oil, developed in the curing 
of the pod. 

It is a mild diffusible stimulant, chiefly used, however, as a 
perfume and flavouring ingredient. 

ORDER VII. — SEDATIVES. 

Sedatives are medicines which diminish the force of the ac- 
tion of the circulation, by depressing the nervous influence. 
Many narcotics, it has been seen, act as sedatives : as some of 
the solanaceae, aconite, hydrocyanic acid, &c. But under this 
head are usually classed the medicinal substances which are 



190 MATERIA MEDICA. 

employed therapeutically to reduce excitement of the vascular 
system. 

With sedatives may be included also the medicinal agents 
termed refrigerants, comprising nearly all the neutral alkaline 
salts, as well as those in which the acid predominates, and the 
vegetable acids. These substances have little power of dimin- 
ishing the ordinary or healthy temperature ; but they lower 
febrile heat, allay thirst, restore the secretions, and in this 
way are very useful adjuvants in the treatment of febrile com- 
plaints. 

DIGITALIS. 

\ 
Digitalis purpurea, or Purple Foxglove (Nat. Ord. Scrophu- 
lariacese), is a biennial European plant, cultivated in our gar- 
dens, with an erect stem three or four feet high, large ovate- 
lanceolate, crenate, downy, and veiny leaves, of a dull-green 
colour, and handsome bell-shaped crimson or purple flowers, 
arranged in a long terminal spike. The seeds and leaves are 
both active, but the latter only are employed, from plants of 
the second years growth ; and those from the wild plants are 
preferred, as the cultivated variety is thought to be inferior in 
virtue. The petioles are removed, and the leaves are then dried 
in baskets, in a dark place, in a drying-stove. When dried, 
they have a dull-green colour, with a faint odour, and a bitter, 
nauseous taste, and afford a fine deep-green powder. Both 
leaves and powder should be preserved in well-stoppered bottles, 
covered externally with dark-coloured paper, and kept in a dark 
cupboard. And, as their medicinal activity is impaired by 
keeping, they should be renewed annually. They contain a 
principle termed digitalin which possesses similar properties to 
those of the leaves. 

Digitalin (digitalinum) is officinal, and is obtained by first 
preparing a strong alcoholic solution, adding acetic acid and a 
little animal charcoal, and filtering ; to the liquor, filtered and 
partially neutralized by ammonia, a strong watery solution of 
tannic acid is added, so long as a precipitate is produced ; the 



DIGITALIS. 191 

washed filter (which is tannate of digitalin), is mixed with 
oxide of lead and dried; it is then treated again with animal 
charcoal and digested at a gentle heat with stronger alcohol ; 
the alcoholic solution is evaporated to dryness, powdered, and 
washed with ether, which removes impurities and leaves the 
digitalin. It is a white, or yellowish-white powder, odourless, 
but of a very bitter taste ; readily soluble in alcohol and in 
acids, but nearly insoluble in water and ether; dose from g 1 ^ to 
3^ of a grain. 

Physiological Effects.. — The ordinary results of the admin- 
istration of digitalis, in small and repeated -doses, are an in- 
crease in the secretion of urine and a reduction of the frequency 
of the pulse, sometimes accompanied by nausea ; but these 
effects are not constant. The influence of digitalis over the 
pulse is more marked in weak and debilitated persons, than in 
those who are robust and plethoric. Its effects, too, in this 
particular, are more easily obtained in the recumbent than in 
the erect posture, owing to the less force required in the former 
position, to carry on the circulation. In the repeated use of 
small doses of this medicine, a cumulative effect is sometimes 
observed : its powers are not manifested for a certain time, and 
effects are suddenly produced, which are attributable to the 
whole amount administered, giving rise to dangerous and even 
fatal syncope. In morbid conditions of the circulation, where 
it is irritable, abnormally quick, or irregular, digitalis is con- 
sidered to exercise a primary medicinal effect, in steadying the 
pulse and restoring its force and regularity, while it diminishes 
morbid frequency. As regards its diuretic action, it is probably 
rather indirect than direct, and is most conspicuous where 
dropsical effusions are removed under its influence. It increases 
the amount of solids eliminated in the urine, except that of, 
urea and of urea acid which are diminished under its use; hence 
it is a good remedy in gout. When too long continued, or 
taken in excessive doses, digitalis acts an acro-narcotic poison, 
producing effects similar to those of tobacco, lobelia, &c. In 
such cases, after evacuating the stomach, the diffusible stimuli 
as brandy and carbonate of ammonium, should be administered. 



192 MATERIA MEDICA. 

The quantity of digitalis, however, that may by given, especially 
in disease, without destroying life, is considerable. 

Medicinal Uses. — From its action on the circulation, digita- 
lis has been used in fevers, inflammations, and hemorrhages, 
where bloodletting is inadmissible, as in hectic fever, tubercular 
hemoptysis, &c. In the treatment of diseases of the heart and 
great vessels, it is a remedy of the greatest value, to reduce the 
force and frequency of the circulation. It is greatly esteemed 
in the treatment of dropsy ; and in the varieties of this disor- 
der, resulting from heart disease, it is more employed than any 
other remedy, from its combined sedative and diuretic influence. 
In delirium tremens, digitalis has lately been given in large 
doses, with excellent effect. 

Administration. — Digitalis is best given in poivder, of which 
the dose is gr. j, two or three times a day, to be gradually 
increased. An infusion is officinal (5j to boiling water Oss, 
with tincture of cinnamon f§j) ; but water is a bad solvent. 
The tincture (four troyounces to diluted alcohol Oij), is a better 
preparation — dose 10 to 20 drops, two or three a times a day, to 
be gradually increased ; of the extract (alcoholic), the dose is 
one-fourth of a grain, to begin with ; of the fluid extract, the 
dose is Tt|j. 

VERATRUM VIRIDE — AMERICAN HELLEBORE. 

Veratrum viride, known as Swamp Hellebore, Meadow Poke, 
Indian Poke, &c. (Nat. Ord. Melanthaceae), is an indigenous 
swampy plant, growing to the height of from three to six feet, 
with greenish-yellow flowers. The rhizome is the officinal 
portion ; it is an inch or two in length, thick and fleshy, with 
numerous whitish radicles, and is usually found in the shops in 
small pieces or fragments, of a dingy white colour. It has a 
bitter, acrid taste, which leaves a permanent impression in the 
mouth and fauces. It yields its virtues to water and alcohol, 
and contains two alkaloids, one soluble in ether, the other in- 
soluble in that menstruum, neither of them being identical (as 
was at one time supposed) with veratria. For the former alka- 



WHITE HELLEBORE. 193 

loid, the name viridia has been proposed ; for the latter, vera- 
troidia. Viridia has little or no local irritant action, produces 
neither vomiting nor purging, exerts no direct influence on the 
brain, but acts as a depressant of the spinal cord and of the 
circulation. Veratroidia is a local irritant, emetic, and some- 
times a cathartic, and a depressant also of the circulation. 
Viridia has been employed to produce the sedative action of 
veratum viride, having the advantage of being free from the 
nauseating and emetic influence which the plant itself often 
produces. Dose, gr. \ every hour. 

Effects and Uses. — American hellebore is an active local 
irritant. Taken internally, it somewhat promotes the flow of 
urine, and in doses of about five grains proves emetic. In con- 
tinued doses it produces a marked sedative action on the circu- 
lation, irrespective of the nausea induced, which indeed may be 
prevented by careful administration. It has not generally proved 
laxative. No fatal effects are recorded from its use ; stimu- 
lants invariably counteracting any excessive sedation. Within 
a few years past, this medicine has been largely used in our 
Southern States in inflammatory and febrile affections, particu- 
larly pneumonia and typhoid fever, with a view to its sedative 
action. It has been also used in cardiac affections, and in 
gout, rheumatism, and neuralgia. Dose, of the powder, gr. i-ij 
to begin with ; of the tincture (sixteen troyounces to alcohol 
Oij), 8 or 10 drops ; of the fluid extract, 4 or 5 drops. 



VERATRUM ALBUM — WHITE HELLEBORE. 

The rhizome of Veratrum Album (Nat. Ord. Melanthacese), 
a mountainous European plant, is found in the shops in small, 
rough, wrinkled, conical, cylindrical pieces, blackish externally, 
and whitish internally ; its odour, in the dried state, is feeble • 
its taste at first sweetish, afterwards bitterish, acrid, and burn- 
ing. It contains veratria, and other principles. 

Effects and Uses. — White hellebore is a local irritant. In 
moderate doses, it stimulates the secretions, and depresses the 

13 



194 MATERIA MEDICA. 

pulse. In larger doses, it is a violent emetic and cathartic. It 
is an ancient remedy, now however, from its severity of action, 
comparatively little used. Dose, gr. ij, to begin with. A wine 
is prescribed, and an ointment, in itch. As an errhine, it is 
sometimes mixed with five or six parts of powdered liquorice 
root, or other inert powder. 

Veratria (C 64 H 52 N 2 ]6 ) is usually obtained from Cevadilla, 
the seeds of Veratrum Sabadilla (Nat. Ord. Melanthacese), a 
plant of Mexico. It is made by evaporating a strong tincture 
of the seeds to the consistence of an extract, from which the 
alkaloid is dissolved by diluted sulphuric acid, and afterwards 
precipitated by magnesia. For purification it is dissolved in 
alcohol, from which it is evaporated, again converted into a 
sulphate, decolourized by animal charcoal, and finally precipi- 
tated by ammonia. When pure it is white, but it is usually a 
grayish or brownish-white powder, without odour, but very irri- 
tant to the nostrils, and of a bitter, acrid taste, producing a 
sense of tingling or numbness in the tongue ; scarcely soluble 
in cold water, but readily soluble in alcohol. It has an alka- 
line reaction, and strikes an intensely red colour with concen- 
trated sulphuric acid. The most delicate test for veratria is 
Trapp's — a permanent lilac-red colour, resembling a solution 
of permanganate of potassa, afforded by heating it in muriatic 
acid. Its effects are locally those of an irritant, and, when 
rubbed on the skin, it causes a sensation of heat and tingling. 
Taken internally, in small doses, it stimulates the secretions 
and depresses the pulse, and in excessive doses, it is a violent 
poison, producing tetanic symptoms : it is without narcotic 
action on the brain, producing death from paralysis of the 
spinal cord. Stimulants and ethereal inhalation would be the 
proper treatment in case of poisoning. Veratria has been used 
internally, in nervous disorders, dropsies, gout, rheumatism, 
&c, in doses of gr. y 1 ^ to J repeated ; but it is most used exter- 
nally, in the form of ointment (gr. xx to lard a troyounce), or 
dissolved in alcohol, as an application to rheumatic, paralytic, or 
neuralgic parts. 



PREPARATIONS OF ANTIMONY. 195 



GBLSBMIUM — YELLOW JASMINE. 

Gelsemiuin Sempervirens, Yellow or Carolina jasmine {Nat. 
Ord. Scrophulariacege), is a beautiful climbing plant of our 
Southern States, with a twining, smooth, and shining stem, 
perennial petiolate, lanceolate leaves, and beautiful, very fra- 
grant flowers, of a deep-yellow colour. The root is used, and 
occurs in the form of light, cylindrical or split pieces, about an 
inch in length, of a dingy yellowish-white colour, with occa- 
sionally remains of the darker epidermis, a faintly narcotic 
odour, and a bitterish, not unpleasant taste. It has been found 
to contain, with other principles, a peculiar alkaloid, termed 
gelseminia, which is probably the active principle and is a 
powerful poison. 

Effects and Uses. — Grelsemrum has been found to possess 
valuable sedative properties, without nauseating or purgative 
effects. In overdoses, it has produced death. It has been 
used in fevers, inflammations, essential spasmodic affections, 
as tetanus, and as an hypnotic in delirium tremens and other 
forms of morbid wakefulness. The tincture of gelsemium (four 
troy ounces of the root to diluted alcohol Oj), is the form which 
has been heretofore employed, in the dose of 20 to 50 drops ; 
but the fluid extract is now officinal, and should be preferred ; 
dose 5 to 10 drops. 



ANTIMONII PRJPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF 

ANTIMONY. 

Antimonii et Potassii Tartras [Tartrate of Antimony 
and Potassium). This valuable salt, familiarly known as tartar 
emetic, is prepared by boiling water and cream of tartar with 
oxide of antimony. It occurs in colourless, transparent, 
rhombic, octohedron crystals, which become white and opaque 
from efflorescence on exposure to the air. When pure, its 
powder is perfectly white ; but it is to be preferred in the 
crystalline state, as in this form it is less liable to adulteration. 



196 MATERIA MEDICA. 

When dropped into a solution of hydrosulphuric acid, the 
crystals should have an orange-coloured deposit formed on 
them, which is the tersulphuret, and is distinguished from ter- 
sulphuret of arsenic and all other precipitates, by forming with 
hot muriatic acid a solution, from which, when added to water, 
a white curdy precipitate of oxy chloride of antimony is thrown, 
down. The powder is sometimes adulterated with cream of 
tartar, which may be detected by adding a few drops of a solu- 
tion of carbonate of sodium to a boiling solution of the antimo- 
nial salt, and if the precipitate formed be not redissolved, no 
bitartrate of potassium is present. 

Tartar emetic consists of 1 equiv. of tartaric acid, potash, 
and teroxide of antimony, each, with 3, or perhaps 2 equiv. of 
water of crystallization (SbO 3 ,KO,C 8 H 4 O 10 +2HO). It is ino- 
dorous; has a nauseous, metallic taste; is soluble in 20 parts 
of water ; insoluble in pure alcohol ; and is decomposed by the 
pure alkalies, alkaline carbonates, and the vegetable astrin- 
gents. 

Physiological Effects. — Tartar emetic is a powerful local 
irritant. Applied to the skin, it occasions an eruption of 
pustules, resembling those of variola or ecthyma. When taken 
into the stomach, in full doses, it causes vomiting, purging, 
griping pains, &c. ; and, iu excessive quantity, it acts as an 
irritant poison, and has even produced death : very large doses 
have, however, of late years, been given medicinally with 
entire safety. The proper antidote is tannic acid ; and opium, 
stimulants, and demulcents should be also administered. The 
constitutional effects of tartar emetic, when taken internally, 
in small doses, are an increase in the secretions and exhalations 
generally, especially from the skin ; in somewhat larger doses, 
these effects are accompanied with nausea and vomiting, relax- 
ation of the tissues (particularly the muscular fibres), a feeling 
of great feebleness and exhaustion, and a powerful sedative 
action on the circulation and respiration. 

Medicinal Uses. — Tartar emetic is employed therapeutically 
as an emetic, nauseant, sedative, sudorific, and expectorant, 
and locally as a counter-irritant. As an emetic, it creates 



PREPARATIONS OF ANTIMONY. 197 

more nausea and depression than any other substance ; and 
hence, while other emetics are to be preferred to it, when our 
object is merely to evacuate the contents of the stomach, with 
as little constitutional disturbance as possible, it is of the 
greatest value, when vomiting is resorted to as a means of 
making an impression on the system, and thereby checking 
the progress of disease. As a nauseant, tartar emetic is em- 
ployed to relax the muscular system, in the reduction of dislo- 
cations, strangulated hernia, rigidity of the os uteri in labour, 
&c. As a sedative antiphlogistic, in large doses, it is a most 
powerful and valuable remedy in the treatment of acute in- 
flammation, with fever, from its combined action in reducing 
the force of the circulation, moderating the heat of skin, and 
promoting diaphoresis. When given in this way, at intervals, 
tartar emetic ceases to produce emesis, owing to tolerance of 
the medicine, especially in pneumonia, in which disease it 
has long been extensively resorted to. From gr. \ to gr. J 
may be given every two hours, in gradually increasing doses, 
until some amelioration of the symptoms takes place, when the 
doses are to be again decreased. As a diaphoretic, it is very 
useful, in small closes (as from gr. ^ to gr. \, repeated), in 
continued fevers, inflammation from wounds, injuries, &c. ; and 
as an expectorant, in the same closes, it is employed in various 
pulmonary affections with advantage. As a local irritant, it is 
applied to the skin in the form of aqueous solution, ointment, 
or plaster, in chronic diseases of the chest, affections of 
joints, &c. 

Administration. — The dose of tartar emetic, as an emetic, is 
gr. j or ij, and it is frequently combined with ipecacuanha. 
As a sedative antiphlogistic, gr. \ or J, to gr. j or ij ; as a nau- 
seant, gr. J to J- ; and as a diaphoretic and expectorant, gr. Jg 
to \, may be given in solution, and in each case repeated 
every two or three hours. For external use, the ointment 
(imguentum antirnonii, 1 part to lard 4 parts) may be employed ; 
or the plaster, made by mixing one part of tartar emetic with 
four parts of Burgundy pitch. 

Vinum Antimonii (Antimonial Wine), is a solution of tartar 



198 MATERIA MEDICA. 

emetic (gr. xxxij), in boiling distilled water (fsj), and sherry 
wine (foxv). It is employed as an expectorant and sudorific, 
in the dose of from 10 to 30 drops, frequently repeated; and 
as an emetic for children, in the dose of 30 drops to f5j, re- 
peated every quarter of an hour. 

Antimonium Sulphuratum {Sulphurated Antimony), is 
prepared by boiling the native tersulphuret of antimony, pre- 
viously purified by fusion, with a solution of potassa, and adding 
diluted sulphuric acid to the strained solution ; the sulphate of 
potassium, which is formed, being afterwards washed away 
with hot water. It is a reddish-brown, odourless, almost taste- 
less, insoluble powder, and is chemically a mixture of teroxide 
and tersulphuret of antimony. Its effects are analogous to 
those of tartar emetic ; but it is chiefly employed as an altera- 
tive in cutaneous affections, secondary syphilis, &c, usually in 
conjunction with mercurials. Dose, as an alterative, gr. j to 
iij ; as an emetic, gr. v to xx. 

Antimonii Oxysulphuretum (Oxy sulphur et of Antimony, 
or Kermes Mineral), is another mixture of tersulphuret and 
teroxide of antimony, prepared by boiling tersulphuret with an 
alkaline carbonate or caustic solution. It is an odourless, 
tasteless, purplish-brown, insoluble powder, sometimes employed 
as an antiphlogistic in pneumonia ; but it is uncertain in its 
operation, and probably possesses no advantage over tartar 
emetic. Dose, gr. J to gr. ij, or iij. 

By the addition of an acid to the liquor which remains after 
the precipitation of kermes, an orange-red, odourless, tasteless 
powder called golden sulphur of antimony, is obtained. It is 
a mixture of tersulphuret and teroxide with some free sulphur, 
and acts like kermes, but is weaker. Dose, gr. j. to gr. ij, or iij. 

Pilulw Antimonii Compositw (Compound Pills of Antimony), 
sometimes called Plummer's pills, contain equal parts of sul- 
phurated antimony and of calomel, mixed with twice the amount 
of guaiac and molasses each. They are used as an alterative 
in syphilitic, rheumatic, and cutaneous affections. Six grains 
of the mass contain a grain of calomel and antimony each. 

Pulvis Antimonialis. — An antimonial powder is prepared in 



PREPARATIONS OF ANTIMONY. 199 

imitation of the celebrated James's powder, by burning sulphuret 
of antimony with hartshorn shavings or bone shavings. It is 
a white, gritty, tasteless, odourless powder, consisting of a 
mixture of antimonious acid and phosphate of calcium, with some 
teroxide of antimony and a little antimonite of calcium. It was 
formerly much employed in fevers; but it is unequal in its 
operation, owing its activity to the teroxide of antimony present. 
Hence, it has been dismissed from the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. 
In the British Pharmacopoeia, it is now directed to be made by 
mixing one part of oxide of antimony and two parts of pre- 
cipitated phosphate of calcium. Dose, gr. iij to viij. 

Antimonii Oxldum (Oxide of Antimony) (SbO^) is prepared 
from the sulphuret by digesting first with, muriatic acid, then 
adding a little nitric acid; next precipitating the teroxide 
formed with a large amount of water; afterwards decomposing 
the oxychloride thus obtained, by ammonia, by which the ter- 
chloride of the oxychloride is converted into teroxide. This 
is a heavy, grayish-white, insoluble powder. It has the general 
therapeutic properties of the antimonials, and, though not quite 
certain in its effects, as its solubility depends upon the amount 
of hydrochloric acid, which may exist in the stomach, it is 
believed to produce the sedative operation of tartar emetic, with 
less nausea and derangement of the stomach. Dose, 2 or 3 
grains repeated. 

Antimoniated Hydrogen is a gaseous substance, which has 
lately been employed, with much success, by inhalation, in 
acute bronchitis and pneumonia. It is prepared, by forming 
an alloy of a drachm of pure antimony and twice the quantity 
of pure zinc, which is to be mixed with a drachm of tartar emetic 
or chloride of antimony, and introduced into a bottle with a 
large tubulure; and from time to time, as the gas is wanted, 
from half a drachm to a drachm of muriatic acid is added. 
Muriatic acid gas is evolved at the same time, but this is pre- 
vented from reaching the respiratory orifices, by closing them 
with a sponge wet with an alkaline solution, which permits the 
antimoniated hydrogen to pass. The gas may be breathed for 
five minutes every hour. 



200 MATERIA MEDICA. 



POTASSII NIT HAS — NITRATE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt, commonly called nitre and saltpetre (KO,N0 5 ), 
occurs in both the inors;anized and organized kingdoms of 
nature. It is obtained, for metlicinal use, principally by the 
purification of the native nitre of India; and it is also found in 
saltpetre caves in various parts of the United States, associated 
with nitrate of calcium, from which it is separated by lixivation. 
It is artificially produced in several parts of Europe, in nitre 
beds or saltpetre plantations, by bringing together decayed 
organic animal and vegetable matters. And it is manufactured 
sometimes by the double decomposition of nitrate of sodium and 
chloride of potassium. Nitre is refined by re-solution and 
crystallization of the crude nitre. As purified for medicinal 
use, it is found in the shops in large, transparent, colourless 
crystals, of the form of six-sided prisms with dihedral summits, 
which are unalterable in the air. They have no odour, a sharp, 
cooling taste, are wholly soluble in water, and insoluble in pure 
alcohol. They have no water of crystallization, but frequently 
have a portion of the mother liquid mechanically lodged in 
the spaces of the crystals, which may be driven off by heat, and 
the salt fused and cast into moulds. 

Physiological Effects. — In excessive doses, nitre may act as 
a fatal poison, producing irritation of the alimentary canal and 
derangement of the nervous system. There is no antidote for 
it, and cases of poisoning are to be treated by demulcents, opiates, 
&c, after evacuation of the contents of the stomach. In mode- 
rate doses, it is a refrigerant, sedative, diuretic, and diaphoretic, 
and, in large or continued doses, laxative. Its refrigerant 
properties are best seen when the body is morbidly hot, as in 
fevers. When mixed with the blood, after absorption, it pro- 
duces several chemical changes, the most important of which is 
an antiplastic effect, by impeding coagulation. 

Medicinal Uses. — Nitre is a very valuable refrigerant and 
sedative remedy in fevers, inflammations, hemorrhages, &c. 
In fevers it is often prescribed with calomel and tartar emetic, 



BOEATE OF SODIUM. 201 

under the name of nitrous powders (nitre gr. x, tartar emetic, 
gr. J-, calomel gr. \ to J). In large doses, it was given for- 
merly in acute rheumatism, and this practice has been lately 
revived with success in France. Dose, gr. x to 5ss. From 
5iv to 5vj, are given in 24 hours, in acute rheumatism, and the 
quantity is increased to oviij, x, or xij. The fumes of paper, 
impregnated with nitre, are used with advantage in spasmodic 
asthma. 

Sodii Nitras — Nitrate of Sodium. This salt, commonly 
called cubic nitre, is found in large deposits in South America, 
chiefly in Peru, but also in Brazil. The crude salt occurs in 
rather soft and pliable lumps, of white, yellow, or gray colour ; 
it is often purified in Peru by solution, crystallization, and de- 
siccation, but it is usually refined after importation. It occurs, 
in colourless, rhombohedral crystals, slightly deliquescent, and 
wholly soluble in water (NaO,N0 5 ), without odour, and of a 
sharp, cooling, and bitter taste. 

Effects and Uses. — Sodium nitre has been little used in med- 
icine, its employment having been chiefly limited to dysentery, 
in which it is highly praised by German physicians, in amounts 
of from half a troyounce to a troyounce, in mucilaginous solu- 
tion, during the day. Its effects are probably analogous to those 
o"f potassium nitre, though it no doubt requires larger doses. 



REFRIGERANTS. 
SODII BORAS — BORATE OF SODIUM. 

Borax occurs as a native product in several localities, the 
most important of which for a long time was Thibet, in Asia ; 
it is also made artificially by the direct combination of native 
boracic acid (obtained from the lagoons of Tuscany), with soda. 
The supply of the United States is now, however, exclusively 
derived from Borax Lake, in California, about one hundred 
miles north of San Francisco. Borax occurs in the form of 
hexahedral prismatic crystals, terminated by triangular pyra- 
mids, of a sweetish alkaline taste, and an alkaline reaction. 



202 MATERIA MEDTCA. 

It is a biborate of sodium (NaO,2B0 3 ), with 10 eqs. of water of 
crystallization, in the prismatic form, and 5 eqs. when it occurs 
in the-, octohedral form. It is wholly soluble in water, and 
slowly effloresces, and has the property of rendering cream of 
tartar very soluble in water. 

Effects and Uses. — Borax is a mild refrigerant and diuretic, 
and has had emmenagogue virtues attributed to it. Dose, gr. 
xxx. It has been given in infantile diarrhoea as an enema, and is 
used externally in cutaneous affections, especially as a deter- 
gent in aphthous affections of the mouth in children, mixed 
with equal parts of sugar. Grlycerite of borate of sodium {gly- 
ceritum sodii boratis), is made by rubbing up two troyounces of 
borate of sodium in half a pint of glycerin ; honey of borate of 
sodium (mel sodii boratis), is made by mixing sixty grains of 
borate with a troyounce of clarified honey — both these prepa- 
rations are used chiefly as applications to the mouth and throat. 

POTASSII CITRAS — CITRATE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt is made by saturating a solution of citric acid with 
bicarbonate of potassium, and evaporating to dryness. It is 
white, granular, deliquescent, and wholly soluble in water 
(3KO,C 12 H 5 O n ). It is an excellent refrigerant diaphoretic, 
much employed in febrile affections. Dose, gr. xx-xxv ; 5vj 
are usually dissolved in water Oss, and f§ss of the solution is 
administered every hour or two. The salts of the alkalies with 
vegetable acids, as citrates, tartrates and acetates, during their 
passage through the body, are converted into carbonates. 

Liquor Potassii Citratis {Solution of Citrate of Potassium) 
is made by dissolving half a troyounce of citric acid and 
330 grains of bicarbonate of potassium in half a pint of water — 
dose, foss. 

Mistura Potassii Citratis {Mixture of Citrate of Potassium, or 
Neutral Mixture), is made by saturating fresh lemon-juice with 
bicarbonate of potassium : or, when the lemon-juice cannot be 
had, a solution of citric acid, flavoured with oil of lemon, may 
be used as a substitute. This preparation contains some free 



SPIRIT OF NITROUS ETHER. 203 

carbonic acid, which renders it more grateful to an irritable 
stomach than the ordinary solutions of the citrate. Under the 
name of effervescing draught, the citrate of potassium is often 
prepared extemporaneously and given in the state of efferves- 
cence. 



LIQUOR AMMONII ACE T ATI S — SOLUTION OF ACE- 
TATE OF AMMONIUM. 

This solution, termed also Spiritus Mindereri, or Spirit of 
Mindererus, is made by saturating diluted acetic acid with 
carbonate of ammonium, and is a solution of the acetate of 
ammonium (NH 4 0,C 4 H 3 3 ). When pure, it is a colourless 
liquid, with a saline taste ; it should be always freshly made 
when dispensed. In small doses, it is refrigerant ; in larger 
doses, diaphoretic, diuretic, and perhaps resolvent. It is em- 
ployed in febrile and inflammatory affections, sometimes in con- 
junction with nitre or tartar emetic, sometimes with camphor 
and opium. Dose, f§ss to foj, every two, three, or four hours, 
in sweetened water. 



SPIRITUS ^THERIS NITROSI — SPIRIT OF NITROUS 

ETHER. 

This preparation, commonly known as Siveet Spirit of Nitre, 
is a solution of nitrous ether in alcohol. It is obtained by 
distilling nitric acid with stronger alcohol and carbonate of 
potassium, and is a mixture, in variable proportions, of nitrous 
ether (C 4 H 5 0,N0 3 ) and alcohol. It is a volatile, inflammable 
liquid, of a pale-yellow colour inclining slightly to green, 
having a fragrant, ethereal odour, free from pungency, and a 
sharp, burning taste. It mixes with water and alcohol in all 
proportions; sp. gr. 0.837, and it contains five per cent, of 
nitrous ether. It should not be long kept, as it becomes strongly 
acid by age. 

Effects and Uses. — Sweet Spirit of Nitre is antispasmodic, 
refrigerant, diaphoretic, and diuretic. It is much used in 



204 MATERIA MEDICA. 

febrile affections, and, from its diuretic properties, is often 
combined with other diuretics in the treatment of dropsies. 
From its pleasant taste and smell, it is very acceptable to 
children. Dose f5ss to foj, frequently repeated. 



ACIDA VEGETABILIA — VEGETABLE ACIDS. 

The vegetable acids are refrigerant, and, when properly 
diluted, form useful drinks in fevers, &c. Those chiefly em- 
ployed are acidum aceticum [acetic acid), acidum citricum 
(citric acid), and acidum tartaricum (tartaric acid). Acetic 
Acid (C 4 H 3 3 ) is employed internally only in the form of di- 
luted acetic acid (one part of strong acid to seven parts of dis- 
tilled water), or vinegar (acetum). Externally, strong acetic 
acid is employed as an escharotic to remove warts, in the cure 
of lupus, &c. It is less used internally as a refrigerant than 
citric acid, from its liability to produce colic and diarrhoea, ex- 
cept in typhus, scarlet, and other malignant fevers, owing to 
its supposed possession of antiseptic virtues. Spongings with 
vinegar and water are useful to relieve the heat of skin in 
fevers, and the vapour is grateful to the sick. The dose of 
vinegar is f5j-iv. Citric Acid may be agreeably adminis- 
tered in the juice of lemons, limes, sour oranges, and tama- 
rinds. When these cannot be obtained, a solution of citric 
acid (3j to water Oj) may be substituted. Citric acid is manu- 
factured from lemon or lime juice, by saturating it with car- 
bonate of calcium, and afterwards decomposing the citrate of 
calcium, which is formed, by the addition of sulphuric acid. It 
occurs in colourless crystals (C 12 H 5 O n +4HO), having the form 
of rhomboidal prisms with dihedral summits, freely soluble in 
water, and soluble in alcohol ; 5ixss, added to distilled water 
Oj, form a solution of the average strength of lemon-juice. In 
the dose of f5j every hour or two, lemon-juice, limonis succus 
(the juice of the fruit of Citrus Limonum), has been employed 
with much success in acute rheumatism and gout, and, though 
an uncertain remedy, is occasionally of undoubted efficacy. 



NUX VOMICA. 205 

Properly diluted and mixed with sugar, it forms the delightful 
refrigerant known as lemonade. Lemon-juice is the best 
known remedy for scurvy. Syrup of citric acid consists of 
liO grains of powdered citric acid and four minims of oil of 
lemon rubbed up with a fluidounce of syrup, and afterwards 
dissolved in a pint and fifteen fluidounces more of syrup, at a 
gentle heat. Lemon syrup, which is pleasanter, is made by 
dissolving 48 troyounces of sugar in a pint of strained lemon- 
juice mixed with a pint of water, at a gentle heat. Tartaric 
Acid is the acid of grapes, and is extracted from tartar, or 
crude cream of tartar. It is a white crystallized solid, in the 
form of irregular six-sided prisms (C 8 H 4 O 10 +2HO), and is 
found in the shops as a fine white powder. It is soluble in 
water and alcohol. Being cheaper than citric acid, it may be 
used as a substitute for that acid. It is employed in making 
soda and Seidlitz powders. Tartaric acid yields a precipitate 
(cream of tartar) with a solution of carbonate or other neutral 
salt of potassium, while citric acid yields none. 



ORDER VIII. — SPINANTS. 

Under the term Spinants or Spastics, are comprised medi- 
cines which are employed to excite muscular contraction. Of 
this class, the most important articles are vegetable substances 
containing the alkaloids strychnia and brucia, which are em- 
ployed therapeutically in torpid or paralytic conditions of the 
muscular system — and ergot, which is used to excite muscular 
contractions of the uterus. 



NUX VOMICA. 

Strychnos Nux vomica, or Poison-Nut (Nat, Ord. Apocy- 
nacese), is a middling-sized tree of the coast of Coramandel and 
other parts of India, which bears a round, smooth berry, the 
size of a pretty large apple, of a rich orange colour, and con- 
taining numerous seeds embedded in a juicy pulp. The seeds 



206 MATERIA MEDICA. 

are the officinal portion ; but the bark also is poisonous, and is 
known as false angustura bark, from its having been confounded 
with angustura bark. The seeds are round, peltate, less than 
an inch in diameter, nearly flat, or convex on one side and con- 
cave on the other, and surrounded by a narrow annular stria. 
They have two coats : a simple, fibrous, outer coat, covered with 
short, silky hairs, of a gray or yellowish colour, and a very thin 
inner coat, which envelopes the nucleus or kernel. This is 
hard, horny, of a whitish or yellowish colour, and of very dif- 
ficult pulverization. The seeds have no odour, but an intensely 
bitter taste, which is stronger in the kernel than in the invest- 
ing membrane. They impart their virtues to water, but more 
readily to diluted alcohol, and contain two active alkaloid prin- 
ciples, strychnia (which is officinal), and brucia, both of which 
exist in combination with an acid called s try clinic, or igasuric ; 
another alkaloid, termed igasuria, much more soluble in water 
than the two first named, has been lately extracted from nux 
vomica. 

Physiological Effects. — In very small and repeated doses, 
nux vomica has a tonic and diuretic effect, and sometimes ope- 
rates slightly on the bowels and skin. In somewhat larger 
doses, the stomach is often disturbed ; and in still larger doses, 
the muscular system becomes disordered. A sense of weight 
and weakness in the limbs, and increased sensibility to external 
impressions of all kinds, manifest themselves, with depression 
of spirits and anxiety ; the limbs tremble, and slight convulsive 
movements of the muscles appear. If the medicine be contin- 
ued, convulsive paroxysms of the whole muscular system ensue, 
with erotic desires, painful sensations in the skin, and occasion- 
ally eruptions : the pulse is not much affected. In paralytic 
patients, the effects of the medicine are principally observed in 
the paralyzed parts. When taken in excessive doses, it pro- 
duces tetanus, asphyxia, and death. There is no chemical 
antidote, unless, perhaps, tannic acid, and the ioduretted iodide 
of potassium ; after evacuating the stomach, opium, conium, 
ether, chloroform, extract of Indian hemp, camphor, tobacco, 
calabar bean, &c, may be exhibited, as physiological antidotes. 



STRYCHNIA. 207 

Medicinal Uses. — This medicine is our chief resource in 
torpid or paralytic conditions of the motor or sensitive nerves, 
or of the muscular fibre. When, however, paralysis is the 
result of inflammation of the nervous centres, it is injurious, 
and accelerates organic changes. It is most beneficial in those 
forms of paralysis which are independent of structural lesion, 
as lead palsy or paralysis from drunkenness. In paralysis, 
arising from cerebral hemorrhage, — after the absorption of the 
effused blood, and the paralysis remains, as it were from habit, — 
the cautious employment of nux vomica is often attended with 
advantage. In amaurosis, free from cerebral complication, it 
is very useful ; and it is occasionally serviceable in other ner- 
vous affections. It has also been found beneficial in chorea, 
constipation, dysentery, cholera, diarrhoea, impotence, inconti- 
nence of urine, and spermatorrhoea ; and in small doses it has 
been used with excellent effect as a general tonic, and as a sto- 
machic in dyspepsia. 

Administration. — Dose of the powder, gr. ij or iij, in pills, 
several times a day, and increased till an effect is produced; 
of the extract (alcoholic), gr. J to gr. j, to be repeated and 
increased; of the tincture (eight troyounces to alcohol Oij), 
gtt. v to xx, and this is sometimes used as an embrocation to 
paralyzed parts. 

Strychnia (C 42 H 22 N 2 4 ) is obtained by the following pro- 
cess : Nux vomica is digested and boiled in water acidulated 
with muriatic acid, and the resulting muriate of strychnia and 
brucia is decomposed by lime. The strychnia is separated from 
brucia and impurities, by boiling alcohol, from which it is de- 
posited when cool, the brucia being left in solution. It is then 
converted into a sulphate by the addition of diluted sulphuric 
acid, next decolourized by purified animal charcoal, and again 
precipitated by solution of ammonia. Thus obtained, it occurs as 
a white or grayish-white powder, (but may be made to crystallize 
in the form of white, brilliant, rhombic prisms), of an intensely 
bitter taste, almost insoluble in water, slightly soluble in cold 
alcohol, but readily soluble in boiling alcohol. The usual test 
for strychnia is the bichromate of potassium, which added to a 



208 MATERIA MEDICA. 

solution of strychnia in concentrated sulphuric acid, produces a 
violet colour, which after a time changes to wine-red, and then 
to reddish-yellow. A still more delicate test is a solution of 
permanganate of potassium (gr. 1) in sulphuric acid (grs. 2000). 
The effects of strychnia are similar to those of nux vomica, but 
more violent; its local action is that of an irritant. It is em- 
ployed for the same purposes as nux vomica, and should be 
given in very minute doses, as gr. ^ to -fa to begin with, to be 
gradually increased and repeated. The salts of strychnia may 
be also employed in the same doses, but they are more soluble, 
and therefore more active. For endermic use, gr. ^ of strych- 
nia may be used. 

Strychnine Sulphas {Sulphate of Strychnia), is made by 
dissolving a mixture of strychnia in distilled water, with diluted 
sulphuric acid, and evaporating. It occurs as a white salt, in 
colourless, prismatic crystals, efflorescent, odourless, very bitter, 
readily soluble in water, sparingly soluble in alcohol, and 
insoluble in ether. It responds to the tests for strychnia, and 
may be used for the same purposes, and in the same doses. 

IGNATIA. 

The seed of Strychnos Ignatia, or St. Ignatius' Bean, a tree 
of the Philippine Islands, contains a large proportion of strych- 
nia, and possesses medicinal properties analogous to those of 
nux vomica. It is used in this country in the form of extract 
(alcoholic), which may be given to fulfil the same remedial 
indications as extract of nux vomica, in the dose of half a 
grain to a grain, three times a day. 

Toxicodendron [Poison-Oak). The leaves of Rhus Toxi- 
codendron, or Poison-Oak (Nat, Ord. Anacardiacese), an indi- 
genous shrub from one to three feet high, and other species of 
Rhus, possess properties somewhat analogous to those of nux 
vomica, and have been employed w T ith success in paralysis. 
They contain a peculiar acid principle (toxicodendric acid), to 
which their poisonous and medicinal activity is due. Dose, gr. 
j to gr. iij, or more, to be repeated and increased. 



ERGOT. 209 



ERGOT A — E R G T . 



Ergot is now known to be a fungus growing from the diseased 
ovary of Secale cereale, or Rye, (Nat. Ord. Graminacese). 
The U. S. Pharmacopoeia styles it the Scleroticum of Clavi- 
ceps purpurea, replacing the grain of secale cereale. Its 
predisposing cause is unknown, and it is not peculiar to rye, 
many other grasses being subject to it, as abortion in grazing 
animals has been frequently produced by their eating grasses 
affected with ergot. The ergot usually projects out of the 
glum or husk of the plant, beyond the ordinary outline of the 
spike or ear. It should not be collected until some days after 
it has begun to form, as it is thought not to possess full activity 
until about the sixth day of its formation. As found in the 
shops, it consists of cylindrical or somewhat prismatical taper- 
ing grains, curved like the spur of a cock, of a purplish colour 
externally, and of a yellowish or grayish-white colour within. 
Its smell is peculiar and nauseous; its taste is at first faint, 
but becomes bitterish, acrid, and disagreeable. It yields its 
virtues to water and alcohol, and does not keep well, being liable 
to the attacks of a minute worm. 

Numerous analyses have been made of ergot, but there is still 
uncertainty as regards its active principles. The oil of ergot 
is not now believed to be, when pure, the medicinal constituent. 
A volatile alkaloid, termed secalia (identical with prophylamia,* 
the odorous principle of pickled herring), exists in ergot; and, 
lately, two fixed alkaloids (ergotina and ecbolina), have been 
discovered, in combination with an acid termed ergotic. Ecbo- 
lina is believed to be the principle which causes uterine con- 
traction, half a grain of it having been found to produce the 
effect of 30 grains of ergot. 

Physiological Effects. — The effects of ergot, in medicinal 
doses, are most conspicuous on the female system, in which it 
excites powerful contractions of the uterus. After labour has 

* Prophylamia (C 6 H 9 N) has been used in rheumatism and neuralgia, in 
doses of two drops in some aromatic water, every two hours. 

14 



210 MATERIA MEDICA. 

commenced, in ten or twenty minutes from its administration, 
it increases the violence, frequency, and continuance of labour 
pains, which usually never cease until the child is born. Ad- 
ministered before labour, it frequently originates the process, 
though its effects in this respect are less constant. And even 
on the unimpregnated uterus, it produces painful contractions, 
and evinces an influence over morbid conditions of the organ, 
by checking uterine hemorrhage, and expelling polypi. It is 
believed to cause contraction of the bloodvessels generally, and 
especially of the spinal cord. In large doses, it produces 
vomiting, purging, and a marked sedative effect on the circula- 
tion, and in excessive quantity it acts as an acro-narcotic 
poison on both sexes. When it is used for a length of time 
as an article of food, it produces a peculiar morbid condition, 
termed ergotism, which assumes two forms, one attended with 
convulsions, the other with dry gangrene of the limbs. 

Medicinal Uses. — The chief employment of ergot is to pro- 
mote the action of the uterus in parturition, when its expulsa- 
tory efforts are feeble and inefficient. It is, however, admissi- 
ble, only when there is & proper conformation of the pelvis and 
soft parts, when the os uteri, vagina, and os externum are dilated 
or readily dilatable, and when the presentation of the child is 
such as to offer no great mechanical impedimement to delivery. 
It is also useful — when from any cause it is important to ac- 
celerate delivery; in women subject to flooding, given just 
before delivery; to promote the expulsion of the placenta, 
when it is retained from a want of contraction of the uterus ; 
to expel clots, hydatids, polypi, &c. ; to restrain uterine hem- 
orrhage, whether puerperal or non -puerperal; to excite and 
promote abortion, &c. ; and sometimes as a styptic. It has 
been employed, too, in gonorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, paralysis of 
the bladder, purpura, and several other diseases ; lately, with 
marked success, in the cure of aneurism ; and also in paralysis 
dependent upon congestion of the spinal cord. By many, ergot 
is believed to exercise a dangerous sedative influence on the 
child during labour, and its use may occasionally produce foetal 
death, which a timely resort to the forceps would have prevented. 



EMETICS. 211 

Administration. — Ergot may be given in labour, in the dose of 
3i, in powder every twenty minutes, till its effects are produced, 
or three doses are taken ; in other diseases, the dose is from three 
to five grains. The fluid extract (made with, diluted alcohol, 
acetic acid, and glycerin), is the best preparation (a fluidounce 
representing a troyounce of ergot), — dose, 20 to 30 drops. The 
wine (vinum ergotae), contains 4 fluidounces of fluid extract, in 
28 fluidounces of sherry wine. Dose, f5j to f5ij. 



GOSSYPII RADICIS CORTEX — BARK OF COTTON ROOT. 

Gossypium herbaceum {Nat. Ord. Malvaceae), is a native of 
Asia, extensively cultivated in tropical and semi-tropical coun- 
tries, and with great success in the South Atlantic and Gulf 
districts of the United States. By cultivation, different varieties 
of this plant have been produced. The root has long been re- 
cognized by Southern physicians as possessing decided influence 
in exciting uterine contractions. A decoction (made by boiling 
four troyounces of the inner bark of the root in a quart of water 
to a pint), has been used in doses of a wineglassful repeated. 
The only officinal preparation is the fluid extract, dose, f5-ij. 
Cotton, the well-known filamentous substance separated from 
the seed of the varieties of gossypium, is a useful application 
to burns, and parts affected with erysipelas and rheumatism. 



CLASS II.— ECCKITICS. 
ORDER I. — EMETICS. 

Emetics (from £ /ueu, I vomit), are medicines which are em- 
ployed to promote vomiting ; when they are used merely to 
excite nausea, they are termed nauseants. When an emetic is 
administered, usually within fifteen or twenty minutes after- 
wards, a feeling of nausea, relaxation, and faintness is experi- 
enced, with coolness and moisture of the skin, and a small, 
feeble, irregular pulse. These symptoms increase, till the con- 



212 MATERIA MEDICA. 

tents of the stomach are ejected. During the act of vomiting, 
the face becomes flushed, the pulse is full and frequent, and 
the temperature of the body is increased. After vomiting is 
over, the skin is moist, the pulse soft and feeble, the patient 
becomes languid and drowsy, and, under peculiar circum- 
stances, alarming and even fatal syncope has been induced. 
Vomiting is a reflex spinal act. Dr. Marshall Hall gives the 
following summary of its mechanism : " During the act of 
vomiting, 1, the larynx is closed; 2, the cardia is opened; and 
3, all the muscles of expiration are called into action ; but 4, 
actual expiration being prevented by the closure of the larynx, 
the force of the effort is expended upon the stomach, the cardia 
being open, and vomiting is effected." 

Susceptibility to the action of emetics differs in different in- 
dividuals and in different diseases. In fevers, and where gas- 
tric irritation is present, their influence is increased ; and, on 
the other hand, when the brain is oppressed by disease or by 
narcotic medicines, the stomach is exceedingly insensible to 
their action. 

Emetics are employed therapeutically : 1, to evacuate the 
stomach, for the purpose of removing poisons, undigested food, 
&c. ; and with this view, the emetics should be selected which 
occasion least nausea and distress ; 2, to expel foreign bodies 
lodged in the throat or oesophagus ; 3, to excite nausea and 
thereby depress the vascular and muscular systems ; 4, to re- 
lieve spasm, as in spasmodic croup ; 5, to promote secretion 
and excretion, &c. ; and 6, sometimes, to break up a train of 
morbid association, by giving a shock to the system, as in the 
forming stage of certain fevers, as typhus and scarlatina, and 
of delirium tremens. They are improper in congestion of the 
brain, pregnancy, hernia, &c. The act of emesis is promoted 
by the free use of tepid drinks ; excessive vomiting may 
be checked by demulcents, opiates, counter-irritation to the 
stomach, &c. 



IPECACUANHA. 213 

VEGETABLE EMETICS. 
IPECACUANHA. 

Ipecacuanha is the ROOT of Cephaelis Ipecacuanha (Nat. 
Ord. Cinchonaceae), a small shrubby perennial plant of Brazil, 
■where it grows to the height of about five or six inches. The 
roots, as met with in the shops, are in pieces about the size of 
a quill, several inches long, of an irregular, twisted, contorted 
shape, with numerous circular rings or rugae, from which they 
have been termed annulated. When broken, they are seen to 
consist of two distinct parts — a thin ligneous axis or centre, 
which is nearly inert, and a thick cortical layer, which has an 
herbaceous, acrid, rather bitter taste, and a slightly nauseous 
odour. A distinction is made of brown, red, and gray ipecacu- 
anha, from differences in the colour of the epidermis, but they 
are all derived from the same plant, and are the same in pro- 
perties and composition ; the brown is the most common variety 
in our market. The powder is of a light grayish-fawn colour, 
and has a peculiar nauseous odour, which in some persons ex- 
cites violent sneezing, in others dyspnoea. Ipecacuanha im- 
parts its virtues to both water and alcohol, but they are injured 
by decoction. Its emetic property depends on the presence of 
a peculiar alkaline principle, termed emetia (C 60 H 44 N 2 O 16 ), a 
whitish, inodorous, slightly bitter substance, sparingly soluble 
in water and ether, and very soluble in concentrated alcohol 
and chloroform. It produces vomiting in the dose of gr. J ? 
and in overdoses may occasion dangerous and even fatal symp- 
toms. Occasionally, a sophisticated root, that of Psycliotria 
emetica, derived from New Granada, is found in the markets ; 
this is not annulated, but longitudinally striated, and contains 
less than half the quantity of emetia, found in the genuine 
root (10J per cent.). 

Effects and Uses. — In full doses, ipecacuanha is a mild and 
certain emetic, well adapted to the treatment of spasmodic 
croup in children, and to all cases where a simple evacuation of 
the stomach is desired. In smaller doses, it produces nausea, 



214 MATERIA MEDICA. 

depression of the pulse, expectoration, and diaphoresis, and 
with these views it is employed in the treatment of pulmonary 
affections, dysentery, and inflammatory disorders generally. 
In still smaller doses, it is useful as a tonic and stomachic. 
Ipecacuanha was first introduced as a remedy in dysentery, 
and, after being for a time laid aside, has been again recently 
used with marked success. 

Administration. — Dose, as an emetic, gr. xv to gr. xx, often 
combined with a grain of tartar emetic ; as a nauseant, gr. ss 
to gr. ij, three or four times a day ; as an expectorant or dia- 
phoretic, gr. J to gr. J, repeated ; as a tonic, gr. yL, repeated. 
The flitid extract is used as an addendum to expectorant and 
diaphoretic mixtures, a fluidounce representing an ounce of the 
root; as an emetic, dose f5ss-i; the wine (yinum ipecacuanhas), 
contains two fluidounces of fluid extract in 30 flaidounces of 
sherry wine ; dose, as an emetic, f gss-i : one part of fluid ex- 
tract, mixed with fifteen parts of simple syrup, makes Syrupus 
Ipecacuanhas, an excellent preparation for children — f§j, con- 
taining gr. xxx of ipecacuanha ; for a child a year or two old, 
f5ss-j, may be given as an emetic, and v-xx drops, as an ex- 
pectorant. Pulvis Ipecacuanhas Compositus, Compound Pow- 
der of Ipecacuanha, or Dover s Powder (see Opium, p. 51). 
Troches of Ipecacuanha contain also arrow-root, sugar, and 
tragacanth (ipecacuanha and tragacanth each two drachms, 
arrow-root two troyounces, sugar eight troyounces, made into 
a mass with syrup of orange peel, which is to be divided into 
480 troches, each containing one-third of a grain of ipecacu- 
anha). 



SANGUINARI A — B LOODROOT. 

The rhizome of Sanguinaria Canadensis, or Bloodroot (Nat. 
Ord. Papaveracese), a small indigenous plant, with radical, 
cordate, lobate leaves, and a handsome, white, eight-petalled 
flower, which appears in early spring — is usually classed with 
emetics. When dried, it is in flattened pieces, much wrinkled 
and contorted, of a reddish-brown colour, with a faint narcotic 



BLOODROOT. 



215 



odour, and a bitterish, very acrid taste. It yields its virtues to 
water and alcohol, and loses them rapidly by keeping. An 



Fig. 18. 




active alkaline principle, sanguinarina (C 34 H 15 N0 8 ), has been 
obtained from it, which possesses the properties of the root, 
and two other alkaloids have been discovered in it. 

Effects and Uses. — Bloodroot is an acrid emetic, and in 
large doses, an acro-narcotic poison. Locally, it acts as an 
irritant, and upon fungous surfaces as an escharotic. It is not 
much used as an emetic ; but is occasionally employed with 



216 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



this view, in croup and diphtheria, or as a nauseant in pulmonary 
affections. Dose, as a emetic, gr. x to xx, in pill ; or in infu- 
sion (half a troyounce to boiling water Oj — not officinal), of 
which f oss is the dose. Tincture (four troyounces to diluted 
alcohol Oij) — dose, as an emetic^ f 5iij or iv ; as an expectorant, 
30 to 60 drops. It is also employed externally, dissolved in 
vinegar. 

EUPHORBIA COROLLATA — LARGE FLOWERING SPURGE. 

Fig. 19. 




Euphorbia Ipecacuanha {Ipecacuanha Spurge). The roots 
of these indigenous plants {Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae), possess 
emetic properties ; but they are apt to operate on the bowels, 
and, in overdoses, prove extremely violent. Dose, gr. x to xv. 



GILLENIA — TOBACCO — LOBELIA. 217 



GILLENIA. 

Gillenia trifoliata, Indian Physic, or American Ipecacuanha 
(Nat. Ord. Rosacea), is an indigenous herbaceous plant, with 
a perennial root, consisting of a number of fibres, arising from 
a tuber ; one or more stems, two or three feet high, of a red- 
dish-brown colour ; trifoliate leaves ; and white flowers, with a 
tinge of red. West of the Allegheny Mountains, another 
species, G. stipulacea, is found, which is identical with the tri- 
foliata in its properties, and is distinguished from it by having 
its lower leaves pinnatifid. The officinal portion of both is the 
root. As found in the shops, it consists of pieces not thicker 
than a quill, wrinkled, of a reddish-brown colour, and composed 
of an easily separable and pulverizable cortical portion, and a 
comparatively inert internal ligneous cord, which should be 
rejected. The bark has a feeble odour, and a nauseous, bitter 
taste, and makes a light brownish powder. 

Effects and Uses. — Gillenia is a safe and efficacious emetic, 
resembling ipecacuanha in its action, and, like it, in small 
doses proves a useful diaphoretic, expectorant, tonic, &c. 
Dose, as an emetic, gr. xxx ; as an expectorant or diaphoretic, 
gr. ij to iv ; and as a tonic, gr. J. 

Sinapis (Mustard). The powdered seeds of Sinapis nigra 
and Sinapis alba (Nat. Ord. Brassicacese), in doses of from a 
teaspoonful to a tablespoonful, are very useful emetics, par- 
ticularly in atonic conditions of the stomach. 

Tobacco and Lobelia act as emetics in large doses, but their 
employment is attended with danger, owing to the great pros- 
tration which they produce (see pp. 62, 64). Squill also pos- 
sesses emetic powers, but it is too irritating for use in this 
respect. 



218 MATERIA MEDICA. 



MINERAL EMETICS. 



Tartar Emetic. Dose, gr. j or gr. ij (see p. 195). 
Sulphate of Zinc. Dose, gr. x to gr. xx (see p. 137). 
Sulphate of Copper. Dose, gr. iij to gr. v (see p. 136). 
Alum. Dose, a teaspoonful (see p. 168). 



ORDER II. — CATHARTICS. 

Cathartics (from K adatpu, I purge), termed also purgatives, are 
medicines which produce evacuations from the bowels. Some 
operate by increasing the peristaltic motion of the intestines; 
others stimulate the mucous follicles and exhalants, and occa- 
sion watery evacuations, whence they are termed hydragogues. 
The more violent of the hydragogues, if given in overdoses, 
produce inflammation of the alimentary canal, characterized by 
violent vomiting and purging, abdominal pain and tenderness, 
cold extremities, and sinking pulse. From their activity, they 
are denominated drastics. Different cathartics affect different 
parts of the alimentary canal unequally, some acting more par- 
ticularly on the upper portion, some on the lower, and others 
affecting all parts equally. Mercurial preparations purge 
chiefly by inducing a flow of bile from the liver. 

Cathartics may be arranged into five groups : 1. Laxatives, 
which gently evacuate the contents of the bowels, without 
causing any obvious irritation, or affecting the general system. 
2. Saline cathartics, which increase both the peristaltic action 
of the bowels and the effusion of fluids from the mucous surface, 
but are devoid of any stimulant action on the general system, 
and are therefore adapted to the treatment of febrile and in- 
flammatory cases. 3. Mild acrid cathartics, which are acrid 
and stimulant, but not sufficiently violent in their local action 
to cause inflammation. 4. Drastics, comprising the more 
powerful and irritating cathartics, which, in large doses, act as 
acrid poisons. 5. Mercurial cathartics. 

Cathartics are employed therapeutically, — 1. To evacuate 



LAXATIVES. 219 

the bowels in constipation, and remove noxious matters, as re- 
tained feces, undigested food, morbid secretions, worms, poisons, 
&c. 2. To depurate the blood, as in typhus fever, uraemia, &c. 
3. To relieve inflammation, congestion, and plethora, by the 
depletion of the bloodvessels, which results from increased se- 
cretion and exhalation from the gastro-intestinal canal. 4. To 
promote absorption. 5. To affect remote organs, particularly 
the brain, through the agency of revulsion and counter-irrita- 
tion. 6. To stimulate the secretion of the liver and pancreas, 
by irritating the orifice of the ductus communis choledochus. 
7. In the treatment of diarrhoea. 8. To restore the catame- 
nia, by the irritating or stimulating influence which they exert ' 
on the pelvic vessels. The more active cathartics are contra- 
indicated in cases of inflammation or ulceration of the gastro- 
intestinal mucous membrane, peritonitis, the advanced stages 
of typhoid fever, pregnancy, &c. 

The operation of cathartics is promoted by the addition of 
small doses of emetics, and of the bitters. By combining those 
which act upon different portions of the alimentary canal, their 
operation is rendered less irritant, without any diminution of 
purgative efficiency. The griping and nauseating tendency of 
the drastic cathartics may be corrected by the addition of aro- 
matics ; carbonic acid water is a grateful vehicle for adminis- 
tering the saline preparations. Cathartics operate most speedily 
and favourably when given on an empty stomach, and suscepti- 
bility to their action is diminished during sleep, and increased 
by exercise. Mild diluent beverages promote their operation. 
In the event of hypercatharsis, opium should be administered 
by the mouth or rectum. 

LAXATIVES. 

Several articles of diet have a laxative operation on the 
bowels, and are useful in cases of habitual costiveness, as most 
of the ripe and dried fruits, — particularly tamarinds, peaches, 
apples, raisins, figs, and prunes, — West India molasses, honey, 
oatmeal, bran, &c. 



220 MATERIA MEDICA. 

The following medicinal substances are usually arranged 
under the head of laxatives, and are employed in cases where 
we wish to open the bowels with the least possible irritation, — 
as in children and pregnant women, in inflammations or surgical 
operations about the abdomen and pelvis, in typhoid fever, 
hernia, piles, affections of the rectum or womb, &c. 

MANNA. 

Manna is the concrete saccharine exudation, in flakes] of 
Fraxinus ornus, and of Fraxinus rotundifolia {Nat, Ord. Olea- 
cese), small trees of Sicily and southern Italy. It is obtained 
from incisions into the stems of the trees. The best kind is 
produced during the height of the season, when the juice flows 
vigorously, and from the upper stems, where it is less fatty. It 
is called flake manna, or manna cannulata, and consists of pieces 
from one to six inches long, one to two inches wide, and from 
half an inch to an inch thick, of irregular form, but more or 
less stalactitic, hollowed out on one side (from the shape of the 
tree or substance on which they are concreted), of a white or 
yellowish-white colour, an odour like that of honey, and a 
sweet, afterwards rather acrid taste. A commoner manna, 
called common manna, or manna in sorts, is obtained from in- 
cisions later in the season, and from the lower stems. It 
occurs in small pieces, which seldom exceed an inch in length, 
and are softer, more viscid, and darker than the flake manna. 
A still inferior variety is termed fat manna, and consists of 
small, soft, viscid fragments, of a dirty, yellowish-brown colour, 
mixed with a few pieces of the flake manna. Manna is soluble 
in both w^ater and alcohol, and contains a white, crystalline, 
saccharine principle, termed mannite (found also in mushrooms, 
the olive tree, and other plants), some sugar, and a resin, to 
which it probably owes most of its purgative effect. 

Effects and Uses. — In moderate doses, manna is nutritive ; 
in larger, mildly laxative. It is principally given to children, 
to whom its sweet taste renders it acceptable; and it is some- 
times combined with the more active cathartics. It may be 



CASTOR OIL. 221 

taken in substance, or dissolved in warm milk or water. Dose 
for an adult, 5j to oij ; for children, 5j to 5hj- 

CASSIA FISTULA — PURGING CASSIA. 

This is the fruit of Cassia Fistula {Nat. Ord. Fabacese), a 
large tree of Egypt and the East Indies, now naturalized in 
the-*- West Indies and South America. It consists of long, 
woody, dark-brown pods, about an inch in diameter, and nearly 
two feet in length, which contain numerous seeds imbedded in 
a soft black pulp. The pulp is the part used, and has a faint, 
nauseous odour, and a sweet, rather pleasant, mucilaginous 
taste. It is, in small doses, a mild, agreeable laxative, but its 
chief use is as an ingredient in the Confection of Senna. Dose, 
5j to gj. 

Oleum Oliv^: (Olive Oil). The well known fixed oil ob- 
tained from the fruit of Olea Europaea, or Olive Tree (Nat. 
Ord. Oleacese), is nutritive, demulcent, emollient, and laxative. 
It is frequently prescribed as a constituent of laxative enemata. 

Oleum Amygdala Expressum (Expressed Oil of Almond), 
is used for the same purposes as olive oil. 

OLEUM RICINI — CASTOR OIL. 

Castor oil is the fixed oil obtained from the seed of 
Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi (Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae), 
a small perennial tree of India, now naturalized in many warm 
climates, and cultivated extensively in the United States. In 
this country, it is an annual plant, about five or six feet in 
height, with round, thick-jointed, furrowed stems, of a purplish 
colour above ; large peltato-palmate leaves, divided into seven 
or nine segments, on long round footstalks ; and prickly, three- 
celled capsules, with a seed in each cell. The seeds are ovate, 
about the size of a small bean, and of a gray colour, marbled 
with reddish-brown spots and stripes. They possess considerable 



222 MATEEIA MEDICA. 

acridity, and, in large quantities, have produced death. They 
consist of a thin outer pellicle, an inner, hard, blackish shell — 
both of which are inert — and a white oleaginous kernel, which 
contains the acrid principle. 

Castor oil is obtained by expression, by decoction, and by 
the agency of alcohol. The first method is the best, and is 
that which is pursued in this country, where large quantities 
are made both for home consumption and exportation ; heat 
should not be employed in preparing it, as it renders it 
rancid. Thus procured, it is nearly colourless, or of a pale- 
yellow colour, of a thick viscid consistence, a faint, unpleasant 
odour, and a mild, nauseous taste, and becomes rancid and 
thick by exposure to the air. It is not soluble in water, but 
is extremely soluble in alcohol, readily so in ether, and forms 
soaps with alkalies. Its composition is not well understood : 
its constituents would seem to be mainly rieinolein (a saponifi- 
able oil resembling olein), and a little stearin and palmitin. 

Effects and Uses. — Castor oil is a mild and tolerably certain 
laxative, operating, when pure, without uneasiness in the 
bowels. It is admirably adapted to all cases where a free 
evacuation of the bowels is desired, without abdominal irri- 
tation, as in dysentery, pregnancy, typhoid fever, &c, and 
is an excellent purgative for children. The leaves are said 
to possess galactagogue properties, and are applied to the 
breasts, in the form of decoction, to induce the secretion of 
milk. 

Administration. — For adults the dose is f§ss to foj ; for 
children foj to f§ss. To cover its unpleasant flavour, it is 
sometimes taken floating on spirit, coffee, mint-water, com- 
pound spirit of ether, &c, or made into an emulsion, or 
mixed with the froth of porter, or a little oil of bitter 
almonds. 

Flaxseed Oil and Melted Butter are laxative in the 
same doses as castor oil. 



SULPHUR. 223 



SULPHUR. 



Sulphur exists in both kingdoms of nature. It is procured 
by the purification of native sulphur, and by the decomposition 
of the native sulphurets. The sulphur of commerce is gene- 
rally obtained in the former way, chiefly from Sicily, and is 
termed crude sulphur ; it comes also from Romagna in Italy, 
and from California, and very recently, considerable deposits 
of sulphur have been found in the island of Saba, one of the 
Dutch West Indies. After importation, it is purified by subli- 
mation, and is known as sublimed sulphur — sulphur subli- 
matum. It is sometimes sublimed in the form of an impalpable 
powder, when it is called the flowers of sulphur. Sometimes it 
is cast in wooden moulds and forms the roll sulphur or brim- 
stone of commerce. Sublimed sulphur contains more or less 
sulphuric acid, and for medicinal use, it is further purified by 
washing, when it constitutes the Sulphur Lotum or Washed 
Sulphur of the Pharmacopoeia. As met with in the shops, it 
is a fine bright-yellow powder, with a feeble odour and taste, 
insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, 
alkaline solutions, and the oils : and, when perfectly pure, it is 
wholly volatilized by heat, and ought not to change the colour 
of litmus paper. 

Effects and Uses. — In small and repeated doses, sulphur is 
a gentle stimulant to the skin and mucous membranes ; and in 
larger doses, it acts as a mild purgative, without exciting the 
pulse or occasioning griping. It is employed in the cases to 
which laxatives are applicable, and also as an alterative diapho- 
retic in chronic cutaneous diseases, rheumatism, and gout, and 
as an expectorant in pulmonary affections. To increase its 
cathartic effect, it is often combined with cream of tartar or 
magnesia. Externally, it is a valuable remedy in various skin 
diseases, particularly scabies. 

Administration. — Dose, 5j to 5uj or 5iv, in syrup, treacle, 
or milk. Externally, it is applied in the form of vapour-bath 
or ointment. Unguentum Sulphuris consists of one part of 



224 MATERIA MEDICA. 

sulphur and two parts of lard, rubbed together until thoroughly 
mixed. 

Sulphur Pr^icipitatum [Precipitated Sulphur, or Lac Sul- 
phuris), is prepared by boiling together sulphur, slacked lime, 
and water, and afterwards precipitating the sulphur by muriatic 
acid. It is a finer and softer powder than sublimed sulphur, is 
of a paler yellow colour, with a grayish tint, and is not gritty 
between the teeth. When exposed to the air, however, it is 
liable to become contaminated with sulphuric acid, and, as 
found in commerce, it is often adulterated with sulphate of 
calcium. Its effects, uses and doses, are the same as those of 
sublimed suphur. 



SALINE CATHARTICS. 
MAGNESIA. 

Magnesia, sometimes called calcined magnesia, from the 
mode in which it is prepared, is procured by exposing the car- 
bonate of magnesium to a red heat, till the carbonic acid is 
wholly expelled. It is a light, fine, white, colourless, odour- 
less powder (MgO), of a feeble earthy taste, very slightly solu- 
ble in water, and more soluble in cold than in hot water. 
Henry s Magnesia, a patent English medicine, has the advan- 
tage over the ordinary magnesia, of greater density and soft- 
ness, and more ready miscibility with water. Magnesia, pre- 
pared by Husband, and Ellis, of Philadelphia, is very similar 
in properties to Henry's. 

Effects and Uses. — Magnesia is antacid and laxative. A 
good deal of its cathartic effect is the result of its combination 
with the free acids of the stomach and intestines, in which 
soluble magnesian salts are formed. When taken in large quan- 
tities, and for too long a period, it sometimes accumulates in 
the bowels ; and hence it is best to increase its solubility by 
giving it with lemonade. It is an excellent laxative where 
much acidity exists in the stomach ; and is particularly useful 
in infantile cases. As an antacid, it is employed in heartburn, 



SULPHATE OF MAGNESIUM. 225 

sick headache, and nephritic complaints. Dose, as a laxative, 
5j ; as an antacid, 3j, in water or milk. Of Henry's, half the 
quantity. 



MAGNESII CARBON AS — CARBONATE OF MAGNESIUM. 

Carbonate of magnesium, sometimes called magnesia alba, is 
prepared by decomposing sulphate of magnesium with an alkaline 
carbonate. As found in the shops, it is a combination of carbon- 
ate of magnesium and hydrate of magnesium, 3(MgO,C0 2 -fHO) 
-fMgO,HO. It occurs in the form of light white cubical cakes 
or powder; is inodorous, almost insipid, and nearly insoluble in 
water, but soluble in carbonic acid water. 

Its effects and uses are nearly the same as those of calcined 
magnesia ; but, from its effervescence with the acids of the 
stomach, it is apt to create flatulence, though sometimes, on 
this account, more acceptable to delicate stomachs. Dose, as 
a laxative, 5j to 5\j ; as an antacid, gr. x. 



MAGNESII SULPHAS — SULPHATE OF MAGNESIUM. 

This salt, commonly called Epsom Salt, from its having 
been first procured from the Epsom mineral waters in England, 
occurs in native crystals, and is a constituent of sea-water and 
many saline springs. It is obtained in England from dolomite, 
or magnesian limestone ; and also from bittern, or the residual 
liquor of sea-water, from which common salt has been separa- 
ted. In this country, it is extensively manufactured at Balti- 
more and Philadelphia, by the action of sulphuric acid on mag- 
nesite, the silicious hydrate of magnesium. It is usually met 
with in small acicular crystals, which are colourless, transpa- 
rent, and odourless, but have an extremely bitter taste. They 
effloresce on exposure to the air, are very soluble in water and 
insoluble in alcohol. The chemical composition of the salt is 
one equivalent of acid, one of magnesia, and seven of water of 
crystallization (MgO,So 3 -f-7HO). 

15 



226 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Effects and Uses. — Epsom Salt is a mild, safe, refrigerant 
purgative, which, from its cheapness, is by far the most com- 
monly employed of all cathartics. It is sometimes combined 
with senna, sometimes with the bitter infusions, and is most 
agreeably administered in solution in carbonic acid water. 
Dose, §j. 



LIQUOR MAGNESII CITRATIS — SOLUTION OP 
CITRATE OF MAGNESIUM. 

The citrate of magnesium is employed medicinally, only in 
solution, with a slight excess of acid, and in the effervescing 
state ; it is prepared, according to the following formula : 400 
grains of citric acid are dissolved in 4 fluidounces of water, and 
in this solution 200 grains of carbonate of magnesium are 
stirred until dissolved ; this solution is filtered into a strong 
twelve-ounce bottle, containing 2 fluidounces of syrup of citric 
acid ; to this are added 40 grains of bicarbonate of potassium, 
and water enough nearly to fill the bottle, which must be closed 
with a cork, secured with twine ; the mixture must be occa- 
sionally shaken, to insure the solution of the bicarbonate. The 
effervescing solution has a pleasant acid taste, without any- 
thing disagreeable. It is a very grateful cathartic, and has 
lately been much employed as a substitute for Epsom salt. 



SODII SULPHAS — SULPHATE OF SODIUM. 

Sulphate of sodium, commonly called Glauber s Salt, is a con- 
stituent of many mineral springs, and is prepared in various 
chemical processes. It occurs as a residuum in the manufac- 
ture of muriatic acid, made by adding sulphuric acid to chloride 
of sodium ; and it is obtained from sea-water in the winter 
season. It is found in colourless, six-sided, very efflorescent 
crystals, which are inodorous, but have a cooling, saline, very 
bitter taste. It is soluble in water, more readily in hot than 
in cold water, and is insoluble in alcohol. Its chemical compo- 



PHOSPHATE OF SODIUM. 227 

sition is one equivalent of soda, one of acid, and ten of water 
(NaO,SO 3 +10HO). 

Its effects and uses are very similar to those of Epsom salt, 
but it is more bitter and nauseous, and is now little used. It 
has an antiplastic action on the blood. Dose, §j ; in an efflo- 
resced state, 5ss. 



MANGANESII SULPHAS — SULPHATE OF MANGANESE. 

This salt is made by heating the native black oxide with concen- 
trated sulphuric acid, and consists of one equivalent of sulphuric 
acid and one of protoxide of manganese (MnO,S0 3 +4HO). 
It occurs in rhombic, prismatic crystals, of a pale-rose or pink 
colour, transparent, and of an astringent, bitterish taste. It is 
very soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol. 

In its effects it is said to resemble Glauber s Salt, acting also 
as a cholagogue. Dose, as a purgative, 5i-ij« As a tonic, it 
has been given in doses of gr. v-xx. 

SODII PHOSPHAS — PHOSPHATE OF SODIUM. 

This salt is prepared by digesting powdered burnt bone with 
diluted sulphuric acid, and decomposing the resulting super- 
phosphate of calcium with carbonate of sodium. It occurs in 
large, rhombic, colourless, transparent, very efflorescent crystals 
(2NaO,P0 5 -f 10HO), which are wholly soluble in water, and 
insoluble in alcohol, and have a pleasant saline taste, resem- 
bling that of common salt. 

Effects and Uses. — Phosphate of sodium is a mild saline 
cathartic, well adapted, from its agreeable taste, to the cases of 
children and delicate persons, but too expensive for general 
use. It is a constituent of the blood in health, and has been 
recommended in cholera as a restorative of deficient saline 
matters, and also in diseases where there is a deficiency of 
phosphatic matter in the bones. Dose, as a cathartic, 5vj to 
to Sxij, in broth or soup ; as an alterative 3j or 3ij, three or 
four times a day. 



228 MATERIA MEDICA. 



POTASSII SULPHAS — SULPHATE OP POTASSIUM. 

This salt exists in both kingdoms of nature, and is obtained 
artificially from the residuum of the distillation of nitric acid 
from nitrate of potassium and sulphuric acid. It occurs in 
small, hard, colourless, inodorous crystals (KO,S0 3 ), of a 
saline, bitter taste, which have no water of crystallization, and 
are unalterable in the air. They are moderately soluble in 
water, and are insoluble in alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — In small doses, it is considered a mild 
and safe cathartic ; but, in large doses, it has proved a violent 
and even fatal poison, producing symptoms of cholera. It is 
thought to act as a lactifuge, or represser of milk, and is ad- 
ministered with this view in France. Dose, as a cathartic, gr. 
xv to 5j> or 5ij ; but it is little employed in this country. From 
its hardness and dryness, it is useful to promote the trituration 
and division of powders, and for this purpose is employed in 
making Dover's powder. 



POTASSII BITARTRAS — BITARTRATE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt, well known as Cream of Tartar, and termed also 
the acid tartrate of potassium, exists in many vegetable juices, 
particularly the juice of grapes, from which it is obtained. It 
is deposited in an impure form, during fermentation, on the 
sides of wine-casks, and in this state occurs in crystalline 
cakes, of a reddish colour, known as argol or crude tartar. This 
is purified by solution and crystallization, and forms a white 
crystalline mass or powder, termed cream of tartar. It is with- 
out smell, has an acidulous and gritty taste, is very slightly 
soluble in water, and insoluble in alcohol. Its chemical com- 
position is one equivalent of potash, one of tartaric acid, and 
one of water (KO,HO,C 8 H 4 O 10 ): the water acts the part of a 
base, as it cannot be expelled without decomposing the salt, 
which, when heated in a close vessel, is converted into black 
flux, a compound of charcoal and carbonate of potassium. 



TARTRATE OF POTASSIUM AND SODIUM. 229 

Effects and Uses. — In small doses, it is diuretic and refrige- 
rant ; in larger doses, cathartic ; and in excessive doses, it will 
produce gastro-intestinal inflammation. It is employed to form 
a refrigerant drink, and as a gentle aperient, in fevers; and as 
a diuretic and hydragogue cathartic in dropsies. Dose, as an 
aperient, 5j or 5ij ; as a cathartic , §ss to oj ; as a diuretic, &j 
to 5j, in repeated doses. It enters into the compound powder 
of jalap. 



POTASSII TARTRAS — TARTRATE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt, formerly called Soluble Tartar, is obtained by 
saturating the excess of acid in cream of tartar with carbonate 
of potassium. It occurs in white deliquescent crystals or grains, 
(2KO,C 8 H 4 O 10 ), of a saline, somewhat bitter taste, and is very 
soluble in water. It consists of two equivalents of potassa 
and one of acid. It is a gentle cathartic and diuretic, at pre- 
sent not much used. Dose, 5ss to oj. 



POTASSII ET SODII TARTRAS — TARTRATE OF POTAS- 
SIUM AND SODIUM. 

This salt, commonly called Rochelle Salt, is made by satu- 
rating the excess of acid in cream of tartar with carbonate of 
sodium. It occurs in large, transparent, colourless, prismatic, 
slightly efflorescent crystals, of a mildly saline and bitter taste, 
readily soluble in cold water, and still more so in hot water. 
It consists of 1 eq. of soda, 1 of potassa, 1 of acid, and 10 of 
water (NaO,KO,C 8 H 4 O 10 + 10HO). It is a mild and plea- 
sant aperient, well adapted to gouty cases, and cases of uric acid 
lithiasis, but it renders the urine alkaline, and should not 
therefore be given to persons suffering with phosphatic deposits 
in the urine. Dose, 5ss to oj- It is usually exhibited in the 
form of Pulveres Effervescentes Aperientes (Aperient Effervesc- 
ing Powders), or Seidlitz Powders, which consist of Rochelle 
salt (5ij) and bicarbonate of sodium (3ij), in a blue paper, and 



230 MATERIA MEDICA. 

tartaric acid (gr. xxxv), in a white paper. They are taken, 
dissolved in half a pint of water, while the liquid is in a state 
of effervescence, and form a very agreeable, mild aperient. 
They should not be kept in a damp place. 



MILD ACRID CATHARTICS. 
R H E U M — R HUBARB. 

Rhubarb is the root of Rheum palmatum, and of other 
species of Rheum (Nat. Ord. Polygonaceae). It is not known 
with certainty what species yields the officinal rhubarb, but it 
is attributed by most writers to R. palmatum, a perennial plant, 
with large, roundish, cordate, half-palmate leaves, growing spon- 
taneously in Chinese Tartary and Mongolia, and cultivated in 
Europe and this country, together with several other varieties, 
for the leaf-stalks, which make excellent tarts. Rhu.barb roots 
are prepared for the market by being cleansed, deprived of their 
cortical portion, cut into pieces, pierced through their centre, 
strung upon a cord, and dried in the sun. Three principal 
sorts were long known : Chinese, Russian or Turkey, and 
European. The first two were obtained, by different routes, 
from Central Asia. 1. Chinese rhubarb is the common variety, 
and is imported principally from Canton. It occurs in roundish 
pieces, sometimes flattened, of a dirty brownish-yellow colour 
externally (the cortical portion apparently scraped off), having a 
ragged fracture (which presents reel, yellowish and white veins), 
and it is often perforated with holes, with portions of the cord 
on which it was dried occasionally remaining. It has a peculiar 
odour, an astringent, somewhat bitter taste, is gritty when 
chewed, and tinges the saliva of a yellow colour ; its powder is 
yellowish, with a reddish-brown tinge. 2. Russian rhubarb had 
probably the same source as the Chinese, but it was selected 
with greater care, and was rigorouly inspected by the Russian 
government. It was carried in caravans through Russia to St. 
Petersburg, whence it was exported. The pieces are irregular 
in shape, and are often angular, from the cortical portion having 



RHUBARB. 231 

been cut off and not scraped. They are less heavy and com- 
pact than the Chinese, of a livelier colour both externally and 
internally, and are perforated with larger holes, which have 
been made for the purpose of inspection. The taste and smell 
are very like those of the Chinese, but are more aromatic; the 
powder is bright yellow. Russian rhubarb has, however, within 
a few years past disappeared as an article of commerce, the 
Russian government having abandoned the inspection long 
practised on the frontiers of Bucharia, whence the supply was 
derived. 3. European rhubarb is of uncertain quality, and is 
seldom found in the shops. The kind most frequently met 
with is English rhubarb, which generally comes in pieces five or 
six inches long, and about an inch thick, and is called stick 
rhubarb. It is lighter, more spongy, and redder than the 
Asiatic varieties, with a feebler odour and less bitter taste. 

Rhubarb imparts its virtues to both water and alcohol, but 
they are impaired by long boiling. Its most important chemi- 
cal constituents are — chrysophanic acid, a yellow, odourless, 
tastless, granular substance; two, or perhaps three resins, 
soluble in alcohol, and insoluble in water; and bitter extractive. 
It is supposed that the therapeutical properties of the drug 
depend chiefly on the conjoint operation of these principles. 
It contains also tannic and gallic acids, sugar, pectin, oxalate 
of lime, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — In small doses, rhubarb is an astringent 
tonic. In larger doses, it is a slow and mild cathartic, occa- 
sionally causing griping and accelerating the pulse, but never 
inflaming the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal like 
the drastics. It is much employed as a purgative in diarrhoea, 
in which it is particularly useful from its secondary astringent 
effect, and in dyspepsia, attended with costiveness, where it acts 
both as a stomachic and laxative. It is not adapted to febrile 
or inflammatory cases. In the bowel-complaints of children, 
rhubarb deservedly enjoys great popularity, and it is also 
highly esteemed in infantile scrofula. Made into a cata- 
plasm, and applied to the abdomen, it acts as a purgative, on 
children. 



232 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Administration. — Dose, as a stomachic laxative, gr. v to gr. 
x ; as a purgative, 3j to 5j- The following are the officinal 
preparations : Infusion, (5jj to boiling water Oss), dose, f§j to 
f§ij, repeated ; Extract (alcoholic), dose, gr. x to gr. xxx ; 
Fluid Extract, dose, f5ss, containing half a drachm of the root ; 
Tincture (§iij to diluted alcohol Oij, with cardamom §ss) ; Tinc- 
ture of Rhubarb and Senna (containing rhubarb a trojounce, 
senna 120 grains, coriander and fennel each 60 grains, liquo- 
rice 30 grains, raisins 6 troyounces, to diluted alcohol Oiij, and 
popularly known as Warner s Gout Cordial) ; Tincture of 
Rhubarb and Aloes and Tincture of Rhubarb and Gentian are 
no longer officinal ; the dose of all the tinctures is fsss to f§j, 
and they are chiefly adapted to low r forms of disease and per- 
sons accustomed to the use of stimulants ; Pills of Rhubarb 
(rhubarb 72 grains, beaten with water into a pilular mass with 
soap 124 grains, and divided into 124 pills) ; Compound Pills 
of Rhubarb (rhubarb 48 grains, aloes 36 grains, myrrh 24 
grains, oil of peppermint 3 minims, beaten with water into a 
pilular mass, and divided into 24 pills) ; Compound Poivder of 
Rhubarb (containing 2 parts of rhubarb, 6 parts of magnesia, 
and 1 part of ginger) ; Syrup (fluid extract 3 fluidounces mixed 
with syrup 29 fluidounces) ; Aromatic Syrup (rhubarb two troy- 
ounces and a half, cloves and cinnamon each half a troyounce, 
nutmeg 120 grains, percolated w T ith diluted alcohol till a pint 
of tincture is obtained, and this mixed with six pints of syrup — 
much used in infantile cases under the name of Spiced Syrup 
of Rhubarb), dose for an infant f5i ; and wine (rhubarb two 
troyounces, canella 60 grains, Sherry wine 14 fluidounces, and 
diluted alcohol enough to make a pint — dose f5i-fsss). Roast- 
ing impairs the cathartic power of rhubarb, and is said to in- 
crease its astringency. 

Juglans {Butternut). The inner bark of the root of 
Juglans cinerea, or Butternut (Nat. Ord. Juglandacese), an in- 
digenous forest tree, possesses cathartic properties, resembling 
those of rhubarb. Dose of the bark, or of the extract, which 
is preferred, gr. x to gr. xxx. 



ALOES. 233 



ALOE — ALOES. 



Aloes is the inspissated juice of the leaves of Aloe 
spicata, Aloe Socotrina, Aloe vulgaris, and other species of 
Aloe (Nat. Ord. Liliace^e), succulent, herbaceous plants, grow- 
ing in warm countries. The finest kinds are obtained by 
exudation : those prepared by expression and by boiling are 
inferior. Three principal varieties are known in commerce : 
Cape, Socotrine, and Barbadoes aloes, the first two of which 
are the most used in the United States. 1. Cape aloes (aloe 
Capensis), which is much the most common, is obtained from 
the Cape of Good Hope, where it is collected indiscriminately 
from A. spicata and other species. It has a shining, resinous 
appearance, is of a deep-brown colour, with a greenish tint, 
translucent at its edges, and has a glossy or resinous fracture. 
Its powder is greenish-yellow ; its odour is strong and disa- 
greeable, but not nauseous. 2. Socotrine aloes (aloe Socotrina), 
when genuine, is the choicest variety. It is produced in the 
island of Socotra, and on the eastern coast of Africa, from A. 
Socotrina, and occurs in pieces of a yellowish or reddish-brown 
colour, becoming darker on exposure to the air, with a smooth 
and conchoidal fracture, the interior being lighter-coloured than 
the exterior. Its powder is golden yellow ; its odour peculiar, 
but not unpleasant, and its taste bitter and disagreeable, but 
aromatic. Socotrine aloes should always be preferred, and is 
the variety directed by the Pharmacopoeia in all preparations 
into which aloes enters. Hepatic aloes is probably an inferior 
variety of Socotrine, and is seldom met w r ith in our shops. It 
is of a reddish-brown colour, but darker and less glossy than 
the Socotrine. 3. Barbadoes aloes (aloe Barbadensis), comes 
from the West Indies, the product chiefly of A. vulgaris ; it is 
imported in gourds. Its colour is not uniform, varying from 
a dark-brow T n or black to a liver colour. It has a dull frac- 
ture ; makes an olive-yellow powder ; and is distinguishable by 
its particularly disagreeable, nauseous odour. The taste of all 
the varieties of aloes is intensely bitter, and very tenacious. 



234 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Aloes yields its virtues to water and alcohol. A proximate 
neutral crystalline principle, termed aloin, has been extracted 
from it, which produces the cathartic action of aloes in doses of 
gr. j to gr. ij. It is slightly soluble in cold water, but readily 
soluble in hot water and alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — Aloes, in small doses, is tonic, and in 
large doses, purgative. As a cathartic it is remarkable for the 
slowness of its operation, and its special action on the large 
intestine and the pelvic viscera generally. Hence, it is objec- 
tionable in cases of hemorrhoids, irritation of the genito-urinary 
apparatus, pregnancy, &c. ; and, on the other hand, is useful 
in amenorrhoea. It stimulates the hepatic secretion also. It 
is principally employed in cases of dyspepsia, accompanied by 
costiveness, dependent on a torpid condition of the large intes- 
tine or liver. It is also useful as a revulsive in cerebral affec- 
tions, and has proved efficacious as an anthelmintic. As a 
purgative, it holds an intermediate rank between rhubarb and 
senna. 

Administration. — Dose, gr. v to gr. x-xx, in pill ; it is usually 
given in combination with other cathartics. Aloes is so often 
mixed with impurities, that, for medicinal uses, it is best em- 
ployed under the form of aloe purificata [purified aloes), which 
is prepared by straining and evaporating an alcoholic solution 
of Socotrine aloes. The officinal preparations are : Pills of 
Aloes, consisting of equal parts of aloes and soap, one pill 
containing two grains of aloes ; Pills of Aloes and Mastic, four 
parts of aloes to one part of mastic and red rose, each ; Pills of 
Aloes and Assafetida, consisting of 32 grains each of aloes, 
assafetida, and soap, divided into 24 pills, useful in flatulent 
constipation ; Pills of Aloes and Myrrh, or Rufus's Pills, 
aloes four parts, myrrh two parts, and aromatic powder one 
part, made into pills with syrup, employed in amenorrhea, each 
pill containing 2 grains of aloes; Powder of Aloes and Canella, 
known as liiera picra, four parts of aloes to one of canella ; 
Tincture (a troyounce to alcohol Oss, distilled water Ojss, with 
liquorice three troyounces), dose, f§ss to fojss ; Tincture of 
Aloes and Myrrh (aloes and myrrh each three troyounces to 



SENNA. 235 

two pints of alcohol); Wine of Aloes (aloes a troyounce, carda- 
mom and ginger each 60 grains, to a pint of Sherry wine) ; 
Suppositories of Aloes contain each two grains of aloes — they 
may be used with a view to the removal of ascarides. 

LEPTANDRA. 

The root of Leptandra Virginica, Culver's Root, or Culver's 
Physic (Nat. Orel. Scrophulariacese), an herbaceous, perennial 
plant, three or four feet high, with leaves in whorls, and a long- 
spike of white flowers, is now ranked as a valuable cholagogue 
cathartic. It consists of a dark-brown rhizome, from two to 
four lines in thickness, several inches in length, with numerous 
long slender radicals. The odour is feeble and disagreeable, 
the taste bitterish, somewhat nauseous and acrid. Water and 
alcohol extract its virtues, which depend on a peculiar prin- 
ciple, termed leptandrin. Dose of the powdered root, gr. xx. 
to 5j ; of an impure resin (made by precipitating a tincture of 
the root), gr. ij-iv ; a fluid extract also has been used. 

SENNA. 

Senna consists of the leaflets of several species of Cassia 
(Nat. Ord. Eabacese), small shrubs, which grow in the tropical 
regions of Asia and Africa. The species recognized as offici- 
nal are C. acutifolia, C. obovata, and C. elongata ; and besides 
these, C. lanceolata, and C. iEthiopica, are also generally re- 
ceived as sources of the drug. The commercial varieties of 
senna, which are found in the United States, are the Alexan- 
dria, the Tripoli, the India, and the Mecca senna. 1. Alexandria 
senna, which comes from the port of this name in Egypt, is 
made up chiefly of the leaflets of C. acutifolia (which are yel- 
lowish-green, acute in shape, and less than an inch in length), 
intermingled with the pods, leafstalks, flowers, &c, of this 
plant. It contains also leaflets of C. obovata, known by their 
rounded, obtuse summits ; and is, moreover, occasionally adul- 
terated with the leaves of Cynanchum oleasfolium, distinguish- 
able by their greater length, thickness, and firmness, from the 



236 MATERIA MEDICA. 

genuine leaves. 2. Tripoli senna, brought from Tripoli, con- 
sists of the leaflets of C. iEthiopica, which are shorter, less 
acute, thinner, and more fragile than those of C. acutifolia, 
and are generally much broken up. 3. India senna is pro- 
duced in Arabia, but comes into commerce through the ports of 
Hindostan. It consists of the leaflets, intermixed with the 
leafstalks and pods, of C. elongata, and is readily recognized 
by the long, narrow, pike-like' shape, and dark hue of the leaf- 
lets. A finer variety of India senna, cultivated at Tinnevelly, 
in Hindostan, has been known for some years past, which is 
distinguishable from the common sort of India senna, by the 
bright-green colour of the leaflets. 4. Mecca senna is a variety 
lately introduced, and consists of leaflets, intermediate in length 
between those of C. acutifolia and C. elongata, and has in mass 
a yellowish, tawny hue. Its source is not known with certainty, 
but it is probably the product of C. lanceolata. Cassia obovata 
has been lately found growing wild in abundance in Jamaica. 

Commercial senna is prepared for use by separating the leaf- 
lets from the stalks, adulterations, &c. ; the pods possess 
cathartic properties, but are less active than the leaves. The 
odour of senna is faint and sickly ; its taste bitter, sweetish, 
and nauseous. It imparts its virtues to water and alcohol, its 
infusion being of a reddish-brown colour. The chemical com- 
position of senna has long been an unsettled point. By the 
latest analysis, it has been found to contain a glucoside, cathar- 
tic acid (C 180 H 96 N 2 O 82 S), which is insoluble in water, stronger 
alcohol, and ether. Catharto-mannite, sennepicrin, and a red- 
dish-brown compound, soluble in ether, resembling chrysophanic 
acid, have been also obtained. 

Effects and Uses. — Senna is a prompt, efficient, and safe ca- 
thartic, well adapted to febrile and inflammatory cases ; it ope- 
rates on the entire track of the intestinal canal, and produces 
watery, feculent discharges. Its tendency to gripe may in a great 
measure be counteracted by combining aromatics or neutral salts 
with it ; the addition of bitters promotes its cathartic activity. 

Administration. — The dose in powder is 5ss to 5\j ; but it is 
usually given in infusion (a troyounce to boiling water Oj with 



AMERICAN SENNA. 



237 



coriander, 5j)> one-third for a dose, repeated. Confectio sennce 
(made with senna, coriander, sugar, figs, and pulps of prunes, 
tamarinds, and purging cassia), is an excellent mild cathartic, 
much used for pregnant women ; dose. 5ij« Of the fluid extract 
the dose is f5i to f^ss ; a, fluid extract of spigelia and senna is 
used as an anthelmintic. 



CASSIA MARILANDICA — AMERICAN SENNA. 

Fig. 20. 

m 




Cassia Marilandica, American Senna, or Wild Senna (Nat. 
Ord. Fabacese), possesses cathartic properties similar to those 



238 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of imported senna, but is less active. It is an indigenous plant, 
common in the Southern and Western States, growing to the 
height of three or four feet, with alternate leaves, composed of 
from eight to ten pairs of oblong, lanceolate, pale-green leaf- 
lets, and bearing handsome golden-yellow flowers and a pendu- 
lous fruit two to four inches long. An infusion of the leaf- 
lets is given in doses one-third larger than those of senna. 

SAMBUCUS — ELDER. 

Several portions of Sambucus Canadensis, our indigenous 
common elder [Nat. Ord. Caprifoliacese), a well-known shrub, 
from six to ten feet high, found in all the Atlantic States, pos- 
sess medicinal properties. The flowers, which are officinal, 
are employed internally as a diaphoretic ; externally as a discu- 
tient. The inner bark, which is without smell, and has a taste 
at first sw r eetish, afterwards slightly bitter, acrid, and nauseous, 
and contains a resin, with valerianic acid, and other principles, 
is a hydragogue cathartic, and in large doses emetic. It is 
deemed a valuable remedy in dropsy, particularly in dropsy 
dependent on albuminuria, in which affection specific alterative 
virtues are attributed to it. It is given in decoction (an ounce 
boiled with two pints of water to a pint) ; dose, f§iv. An infu- 
sion in cider is popularly employed. 



DRASTIC CATHARTICS. 

JALAPA — JALAP. 

Jalap is the tuber of Ipomsea Jala-pa or Exogonium purga, 
(Nat. Ord. Convolvulacese), a climbing plant of Mexico, which 
derives its name from the city of Jalapa, near Vera Cruz. 
The tubers are imported either whole or in slices. When entire, 
they vary in size and shape from a walnut to a large pear, are 
hard and heavy — externally, brown and wrinkled, and inter- 
nally, grayish. They have a heavy, sweetish, rather nauseous 
smell, and a sweetish, acrid, disagreeable taste. They yield 



MAY-APPLE. 239 

their virtues partly to water, partly to alcohol, and completely 
to diluted alcohol. In the shops, jalap is kept in the state of 
powder, which is of a yellowish-gray colour. Its active princi- 
ple is a peculiar resin, which consists of two portions, one of 
which has been termed rliodeoretin ; it contains also gum and 
starch, which is apt to be attacked by worms, the worm-eaten 
pieces becoming thus the most active. 

Effects and Uses. — Jalap is a powerful hydragogue cathar- 
tic, operating with great promptness, and often causing much 
pain. In overdoses, it may produce dangerous hypercatharsis. 
It is employed as a hydragogue in dropsy, when it is often com- 
bined with cream of tartar; as a revulsive in cerebral and 
other affections, and to increase the activity of calomel in bil- 
ious fever. Dose, gr. xv to xxx ; in combination, gr. x. Of 
the extract, which is made with alcohol and water, and contains 
the resin and gum, the dose is one half that of jalap. The com- 
pound powder of jalap (pidvis jalap ce compo sitits), contains one 
part of jalap and two parts of cream of tartar. The resin is 
extracted by solution in alcohol, and afterwards precipitated 
from the tincture by water (16 troyounces of jalap percolated 
with alcohol to a pint and a half, then reduced to six fluidounces 
by distillation, and precipitated with seven pints of water) ; 
dose, from four to eight grains. The tincture (six troyounces 
to alcohol, diluted with one-half a measure of water, Oij), is 
added to cathartic mixtures. Dose, f5i-fSss. 

PODOPHYLLUM — MAY-APPLE. 

Podophyllum peltatum, May-apple or Mandrake {Nat. Ord. 
Ranunculaceae), is a very common indigenous, herbaceous plant, 
with a long creeping, perennial root, and an upright stem about 
a foot high, separating at the top into two petioles, each sup- 
porting a large peltate leaf, divided into five or six lobes. At 
the fork of the petioles, it bears a single flower, which appears 
in May, the fruit ripening in September. The rhizome, which 
is the part used, is found in the shops in wrinkled, jointed 
pieces, about two lines in diameter, of a brown colour exter- 



240 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



nally, and yellowish within. The powder is yellowish-gray, and 
has a sweetish smell; its taste is at first sweetish, afterwards 

Fig. 21. 




bitter, acrid, and nauseous. Diluted alcohol is the best solvent 
of podophyllum, which has been found to contain two resinous 
cathartic principles, both soluble in alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — This is an active hydragogue cathartic, 
with an especial determination to the upper portion of the 
alimentary canal, and a pretty decided cholagogue action. It 
is an ingredient in several cathartic nostrums. Dose, in powder 
3j ; of the extract (prepared with alcohol and diluted alcohol), 
gr. v to gr. xv. ; of the resin (made in the same way as the resin 
of jalap, except that the water, used to precipitate the resin from 
its alcoholic solution, is previously mixed with two fluidrachms 
of muriatic acid), gr. J to gr. j. 



BLACK HELLEBORE. 241 



SCAMMONIUM — SCAMMONY. 

Scammony is a resinous exudation from the ROOT of Con- 
volvulus Scammonia (Nat. Ord. Convolvulacese), a twining 
plant of Syria. The finest kind is the product of exudation 
from the sliced root; but most of the drug which reaches us is 
probably obtained by expression. It comes from the Levant. 
Genuine scammony, termed Virgin Scammony, occurs in 
light, irregular, friable pieces, covered with a whitish-gray 
powder, and breaking with a bright-greenish fracture. The 
scammony of the shops, which is always more or less adulter- 
ated, is in hard, heavy, saucer-shaped cakes, from four to six 
inches in diameter (sometimes broken into pieces), of a dark 
ash or slate colour. The powder is light-gray; the smell 
disagreeable, like that of old cheese, the taste at first feeble, 
afterwards bitterish and acrid. Scammony is a gum-resin, its 
active ingredient being resin, which constitutes from 80 to 90 
per cent, of the weight of good scammony. Its proper solvents 
are alcohol and ether. 

A factitious scammony, made in France, and known as 
Montpelier Scammony, is occasionally imported into the United 
States. It is blacker than the genuine article, has a feeble, 
balsamic odour, and a very bitter, nauseous taste. 

Effects and Uses. — Scammony is an energetic hydragogue 
cathartic, operating sometimes with great violence, and seldom 
given, except in combination with other cathartics. Dose, gr. 
v to gr. xv of the pure drug, gr. x to gr. xxx of the drug of 
the shops ; of the resin (made by digesting six troyounces of 
scammony with successive portions of boiling alcohol until ex- 
hausted, mixing the tinctures, afterwards reducing the mixture 
to a syrupy consistence by distilling off the alcohol, and then 
precipitating with a pint of water), gr. iv to gr. viij. This is 
much used in the form of compound extract of colocynth. 

Helleborus (Black Hellebore). The root of Helleborus 
Niger, Black Hellebore, or Christmas Rose (Nat. Ord. Ranun- 
culacese), a mountainous European plant, at one time enjoyed 

16 



242 MATERIA MEDICA. 

much reputation as a hydragogue cathartic and emmenagogue. 
It is now little used, and only as an emmenagogue. Dose of 
the powdered root, gr. x to gr. xx ; of the extract (alcoholic), 
gr. v to gr. x ; of the tincture (four troy ounces to diluted alco- 
hol Oij) f5ss to f5j. 

COLOCYNTHIS — COLOCYNTH. 

Colocynth is the fruit (deprived of its rind) of Citrullus 
Colocynthis or bitter Cucumber (Nat. Ord. Cucurbitacese), an 
annual plant of the south of Europe and parts of Asia and 
Africa, resembling the common watermelon. The fruit is 
peeled and dried for exportation, and comes to us from the 
Levant. It consists of light, whitish, spongy balls, about the 
size of a small orange, filled with numerous seeds. For medi- 
cinal use, the pulp only is employed, and the seeds, which are 
inactive, are rejected. The pulp has a feeble odour, and a 
nauseous, intensely bitter taste. It yields its virtues to both 
water and alcohol, and contains a peculiar bitter principle 
termed colocynthin, resin, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — Colocynth is a violent hydragogue 
cathartic, acting sometimes very harshly even in small doses, 
and in overdoses producing dangerous, and occasionally fatal 
enteric inflammation. The dose is gr. v to gr. x. It is seldom, 
however, administered alone. The extract (alcoholic), is made 
by depriving 48 troyounces of colocynth of seeds, grinding, 
macerating in 8 pints of diluted alcohol for four days, express- 
ing, percolating the residue with diluted alcohol till the tinc- 
ture and expressed liquid measure 16 pints ; the alcohol is then 
recovered ; and the residue evaporated to dryness and powdered. 
This is used chiefly in the preparation of the compound ex- 
tract, which is made by mixing three troybunces and a half of 
alcoholic extract, twelve troyounces of purified aloes, three 
troyounces of resin of scammony, a troyounce of cardamom, 
and three troyounces of soap ; this is a favourite prescription, 
but it is apt to gripe, and it is well to combine some aromatic 
with it, as a little oil of cloves or capsicum — dose, gr. v-x. 



ELATERIUM. 243 



GAMBOGIA — GAMBOGE. 



Gamboge is a gum-resin, procured from Garcinia morella 
{Nat. Ord. Guttiferse), a tree of Siam and Cochin-China. The 
juice is said to be collected, as it exudes from the wounded 
bark of the tree, in cocoa-nut shells, and is afterwards rolled 
into cylinders, or transferred to earthen jars to dry ; it is some- 
times also received into the hollow joints of the bamboo. It is 
imported from Canton and Calcutta, and occurs in cylindrical 
rolls from one to three inches in diameter, of an orange colour, 
known as pipe gamboge, or in irregular masses (which are less 
pure), weighing two or three pounds or more, called cake or 
lump gamboge. Good gamboge is opaque, brittle, inodorous, 
nearly insipid, and breaks with a vitreous fracture ; its pow- 
der is bright-yellow. It is a gum-resin, forming a yellow 
opaque emulsion with water, and a golden-yellow solution with 
alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — Gamboge is a powerful hydragogue, and 
in overdoses has proved fatal. It is employed in obstinate 
constipation — in dropsies, combined with cream of tartar or 
jalap — and has been given to destroy taenia. Dose, gr. ij to 
gr. vj. It is often prescribed with other and milder cathartics, 
to promote and accelerate their action. Compound cathartic 
pills (pilulae cathartics composite), are made by mixing 32 
grains of compound extract of colocynth, 24 grains of extract 
of jalap and calomel each, and 6 grains of gamboge, and with 
water forming a pilular mass to be divided into 24 pills. 
Three of the pills, containing lOf grains of the mass, represent 
4 grains of compound extract of colocynth, 3 of extract of jalap 
and calomel each, and J grain of gamboge. 

ELATERIUM. 

Elaterium is a substance deposited by the juice of the fruit 
of Momordica Elaterium, Ecbalium agreste, or Squirting Cucum- 
ber {Nat. Ord. Cucurbitaceae), an annual vine of the south of 



244 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Europe now cultivated in England. The fruit has the shape 
of a small oval cucumber, and, when fully ripe, separates from 
the peduncle, and throws out its juice and seeds with con- 
siderable force, through an opening in the base. Pure elate- 
rium is obtained by slicing the fruit, and allowing the juice to 
drain through a sieve. The juice deposits a sediment, which 
dries in very light, thin, nearly flat, pulverulent, greenish-gray 
cakes, and is the genuine elaterium. It is almost inodorous, 
and has a bitter, acrid taste. The commercial elaterium, which 
is obtained chiefly from England, is made by expression. The 
drug is to be considered inferior when it is dark-coloured, much 
curled, and hard. Elaterium yields its virtues to alcohol and 
not to water. Its active principle is called elaterin, and proves 
powerfully cathartic in doses of y 1 ^ to ^ of a grain. 

Effects and Uses. — Elaterium is a hydragogue cathartic of 
great violence of operation, and in overdoses has frequently 
proved fatal. It has also a diuretic action. It is a very effi- 
cient remedy in the treatment of dropsies, and is also a useful 
revulsive in cerebral affections ; but, in administering it, con- 
siderable caution is required. Dose of the pure drug (termed 
Clutterbuck 's elaterium), gr. \ ; of the drug of the shops, gr. j 
to gr. ij ; but it is most safely given in divided doses. Of 
elaterin, the dose is gr. T V to gr. Jg. 

OLEUM TIGLII — CROTON OIL. 

Oroton oil is a fixed oil obtained from the seeds of Croton 
Tiglium {Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae), a small tree of the East 
Indies. The Croton seeds resemble the Castor seeds in shape 
and size, and consist of a blackish shell, sometimes covered 
with a yellowish-brown epidermis, and enclosing a yellowish 
oily kernel. They are highly irritant and cathartic, but are 
not imported into this country. They contain a volatile oil, a 
fixed oil, resin, crotonic acid, &c. The croton oil of the 
shops is obtained by expression, and is a mixture of the fixed 
oil proper, the resin, and crotonic acid. It is made both in 
India and England, the Indian oil being of a pale straw-colour, 



MERCURIAL CATHARTICS. 245 

and the English reddish-brown ; the latter is the variety now 
found in the shops. It has a viscid consistence, which is in- 
creased by age, a faint peculiar odour, and an extremely acrid, 
pungent taste ; it is soluble in ether and the volatile and fixed 
oils, and partially so in alcohol. 

Physiological Effects. — Croton oil, taken internally, is a 
powerful hydragogue purgative, occasionally increasing also 
the secretion from the kidneys. One or two drops are usually 
sufficient to produce active catharsis, but sometimes as much as 
eight or ten drops may be taken without affecting the bowels. 
It operates very speedily, often causing evacuations in half an 
hour, and is apt to produce considerable depression of the vas- 
cular system. In overdoses it has frequently proved fatal. 
Rubbed on the skin, croton oil causes rubefaction and a pus- 
tular or vesicular eruption ; and, rubbed over the abdomen, it 
will sometimes purge. 

Medicinal Uses. — Croton oil, from the smallness of the dose 
required, and the speediness of its action, is an extremely 
valuable purgative in obstinate constipation, and in cerebral dis- 
orders, particularly coma. As a counter-irritant, it is exten- 
sively employed in pulmonary and laryngeal affections, diseases 
of the joints, &c. Dose, one or two drops made into pill, with 
bread-crumb. For external use, it may be diluted with one or 
two parts of olive oil or oil of turpentine. 

MERCURIAL CATHARTICS. 

The preparations of mercury, employed as cathartics, are 
calomel, blue pill, and mercury ivith chalk. Their purgative 
effects depend partly on the increased flow of bile which they 
occasion, and partly on the stimulus which they give to secre- 
tion from the mucous follicles of the intestinal canal, and from 
the pancreas. They are rarely employed alone, owing to the 
slowness and uncertainty of their action ; but are usually com- 
bined with, or followed by other cathartics (as jalap, senna, 
rhubarb, compound extract of colocynth, or some of the saline 
preparations). The mercurial cathartics are usually admmis- 



246 MATERIA MEDICA. 

tered with a view of combining a purgative action with an effect 
on the secretions, particularly that of the liver ; also, as an- 
thelmintics ; and as revulsives in cerebral and other affections. 
They are well adapted to infantile cases, from the facility of 
their administration, and are especially beneficial in the ephe- 
meral febrile attacks to which children are subject ; they, more- 
over, rarely produce salivation in children. 

Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite (Mild Chloride of Mercury, 
or Calomel). (Noticed at length under the head of Alteratives.) 
Dose, as a cathartic, gr. vj to xij, in pill or in powder, with 
syrup or molasses ; to be followed, in from four to six hours, 
by some other cathartic. Sometimes, when it is exhibited with 
a view to a full action on the liver, gr. j or ij may be given 
every hour or two until the whole purgative dose is taken ; or, 
it may be administered at bedtime, with an aperient draught 
the next morning. For children, larger doses are required in 
proportion than for adults : gr. iij-vj may be given to a child 
from three to six years old. Calomel occasionally causes grip- 
ing pain in the bowels, with bilious vomiting ; this is attributa- 
ble, not to any irritable qualities in the medicine, but to the 
acrid character of the bile secreted. Calomel is an ingredient 
of the Compound Cathartic Pills. 

Pilule Hydrargyri (Pills of Mercury), commonly called 
Blue Pills (see Alteratives), are analogous in their cathartic 
action to calomel, but milder. They are given in about the 
same doses, and in the same combinations, &c. 

Hydrargyrum cum Creta (Mercury with Chalk), (see 
Alteratives), combines antacid with mercurial effects. It is a 
very mild preparation — weaker than even blue pill. It is used 
as a laxative, in bowel-complaints and other affections of chil- 
dren. Dose, gr. v-xx for adults ; for children, gr. ij or iij to 
viij or x, in powder, and not in pill. 

ENEMATA. 

In cases of irritability of the stomach — or with the view of 
hastening the action of cathartics taken by the mouth — or to 



DIAPHORETICS. 247 

remove feculent accumulations in the lower bowels — or to re- 
lieve tympanites — or for the purpose of revulsion, cathartic 
encmata are frequently administered. 

When it is desired simply to open the bowels mechanically, 
tepid water, flaxseed tea, or other demulcent infusion may be 
employed. The common laxative enema consists of a table- 
spoonful of common salt, molasses, and lard or olive oil, each, 
in two-thirds of a pint of warm water; castor oil, or Epsom 
salt may be added to increase the cathartic effect. Senna tea, 
or some other cathartic infusion is often employed. To relieve 
flatulency, oil of turpentine (f§ss to fSj r in emulsion), or milk 
of assafetida (f^ij to fSiv), may be given. The latter is an 
excellent preparation in infantile cases. 



ORDER III. — DIAPHORETICS. 

Diaphoretics (from dia^opeo, Itransjnre), called also suclorijics, 
are medicines w T hich promote transpiration from the skin. The 
action of the cutaneous exhalants may be increased by various 
means. The mere introduction of a large quantity of fluid into 
the system will produce sweating, if the skin be kept warm. 
Exercise and a warm temperature, by determining a flow of 
blood to the cutaneous vessels, act in the same way. Nause- 
ants occasion diaphoresis, by relaxing the orifices of the cuta- 
neous vessels ; stimulants, by exciting them to increased secre- 
tion. Diaphoretics are employed therapeutically, for their 
evacuant, revulsive, and alterative effects, and to promote ab- 
sorption. Different classes of diaphoretics are required for 
different morbid conditions. 

1. Nauseating Diaphoretics. — Most of the emetics, in nause- 
ating doses, produce a powerful relaxing diaphoretic action, 
and are much employed, with this view, in inflammatory cases, 
when not contraindicated by the presence of gastric irritability. 
The Preparations op Antimony (see p. 195), and Ipecacu- 
anha (see p. 213), are chiefly resorted to as nauseating diapho- 
retics. Ipecacuanha is often given as a diaphoretic, in combi- 
nation with opium, in the form of Dover's Powder (see p. 51). 



248 MATEKIA MEDICA. 

2. Refrigerant Diaphoretics. — The saline and ethereal pre- 
parations classed as refrigerants (see p. 201), produce a gentle 
relaxing diaphoretic action, unattended with nausea. They 
are used to allay febrile excitement. 

3. Stimulating Diaphoretics. — This group includes the diffu- 
sible stimulants, aromatic substances generally, of every class, 
and many narcotics, particularly opium and camphor. They 
are contraindicated in high inflammation, but are very service- 
able in rheumatic and pulmonary affections, after vascular ex- 
citement has been reduced, and in all diseases where the sur- 
face of the body is cold. Opium, in the form of Dover s 
Poivder, may be employed in inflammatory cases, where other 
stimulating diaphoretics are inadmissible, and is given with 
advantage in an early stage of acute rheumatism, dysentery, 
and catarrh, unless the action of the pulse be very strong, 
when depletion should be previously resorted to. The opera- 
tion of the diaphoretic stimulants is promoted by the free use 
of warm diluent drinks, and warm covering to the body. 

4. Alterative Diaphoretics. — Under this head are comprised 
a class of diaphoretic medicines, which produce a gradual and 
nearly insensible increase of the cutaneous secretion, and are 
supposed to promote the elimination of noxious matters from 
the blood, through the vessels of the skin. They are employed 
chieflv in chronic rheumatic and cutaneous affections, and in 
secondary syphilis. 



ALTERATIVE DIAPHORETICS. 
SARSAPARILLA. 

The name Sarsaparilla is applied to the roots of Smilax 
officinalis and other species of Smilax (Nat. Oral. Smilaceae), 
twining, prickly shrubs of Mexico, Guatemala, and the warm 
countries of South America. The roots consist of numerous 
wrinkled, slender pieces, of the average thickness of a writing 
quill, several feet long, springing from a common head or 
rhizome, and are frequently found in the shops with portions 



SAKSAPARILLA. 249 

of the stems attached. Several varieties are known : 1. Hon- 
duras Sarsaparilla, the most common variety in the United 
States, comes in bundles two or three feet long, composed of 
several roots folded lengthwise, of a dirty grayish or reddish- 
brown colour. 2. Jamaica Sarsaparilla, which is probably 
derived also from Central America, comes in shorter bundles, 
and is known by the red colour of the epidermis. 3. Vera 
Cruz Sarsaparilla comes in large, loose bales, bound with 
cords or leather thongs, containing the roots folded on them- 
selves, consisting of ahead with numerous long radicals. 4. Bra- 
zilian or Rio Negro Sarsaparilla is distinguished by the amyla- 
ceous character of its interior structure. 5. Guatemala Sarsa- 
parilla resembles the Brazilian. 

Sarsaparilla roots are several feet in length, about the 
thickness of a goose-quill, cylindrical, more or less wrinkled 
longitudinally, and consist of a whitish-brown or pink cortical 
portion, covered with a thin gray, brown, or red epidermis, and 
inclosing a layer of whitish ligneous fibre, and a central pith. 
The cortical portion is more active than the interior portions; 
the central medulla contains a good deal of starch. Sarsapa- 
rilla, in the dried state, is nearly inodorous, but its decoction 
has a strong smell. It has a mucilaginous, slightly bitter taste, 
and, when chewed for some time, produces a persistent acrid 
impression on the mouth ; this acridity of taste is the criterion 
of good sarsaparilla. Water and diluted alcohol extract its 
virtues, but they are impaired by long boiling. It contains an 
active principle, called smilacin or sarsaparillin, starch, resin, 
extractive, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — The physiological effects of sarsaparilla, 
beyond a slight diaphoretic action, are not very obvious ; in 
large doses, it occasionally produces nausea and vomiting. Its 
efficacy, however, in eradicating various morbid symptoms is 
well established, and its mode of action, though obscure, is 
generally attributed to a purifying influence on the blood, 
through the function of the skin. It is employed in secondary 
syphilis, particularly where the disease resists or is aggravated 



250 MATERIA MEDICA. 

by the use of mercury ; also in chronic rheumatism, skin dis- 
eases, and cachectic conditions of the system generally. 

Administration. — Dose, of the poivder, 5ss, three or four 
times a day — not much used, however, in this form. The 
compound decoction is made by boiling six troyounces of sar- 
saparilla, a troyounce of bark of sassafras root, guaiacum wood, 
and liquorice root, each, and 180 grains of mezereon, in 4 pints 
of water for 15 minutes, then digesting for 2 hours at 200°, 
and, after straining, adding water enough to make the de- 
coction measure 4 pints — dose, f§iv-vi, three times a day. 
The compound syrup (which contains also guaiacum wood, pale 
rose, senna, liquorice root, and the oils of sassafras, anise, 
and gaultheria), is a favourite preparation : corrosive sublimate 
should not be given with it, as it is decomposed into calomel. 
Dose, f§ss, three times a day. Of the fluid extract, the dose 
is f5ss. The compound fluid extract contains the ingredients of 
the compound decoction, except the guaiacum — dose, f 5j, three 
or four times a day. 



ARALIA NUDICAULIS — FALSE SARSAPARILLA. 

The root of Aralia Nudicaulis, False Sarsaparilla, or Small 
Spikenard (Nat. Ord. Araliacese), a small, indigenous, peren- 
nial plant, possesses alterative diaphoretic properties similar to 
those of sarsaparilla, and is employed as a substitute for it, in 
the same manner and doses. 

The root of A. racemosa or American Spikenard, and the 
bark of A. spinosa, or Angelica-tree, are also employed as al- 
terative diaphoretics. 

GUAIACI LIGNUM — GUAIACUM WOOD. 
GUAIACI RE SIN A — GUAIAC. 

Guaiacum Wood, or Lignum Vitce, and Guaiac, are products 
of Guaiacum officinale (Nat. Ord. Zygophyllaceae), a large 
evergreen tree of South America and the West Indies. The 



GUAIAC. 251 

WOOD, which is remarkable for its hardness and density, is im- 
ported in logs or billets, covered with a thick gray bark ; the outer 
portion or sapwood is of a pale yellow colour, the inner, of an 
olive-brown. The heart-wood is the officinal portion: it is 
usually kept in the shops in the state of shavings or raspings; 
they are inodorous, unless heated, and, when chewed for some 
time, they have a bitterish, pungent taste. Guaiacum wood 
yields its virtues to alcohol, and partially to water; they depend 
on the guaiac contained in the wood. 

Guaiac is a peculiar resin, obtained from Guaiacum officinale, 
by spontaneous exudation, by incision, by dry-heat, or by de- 
coction of the comminuted wood. It comes in large, irregular, 
semi-transparent, brittle pieces, of varying size — externally, 
of a deep green or olive colour, and internally, red. It has a 
slight, balsamic odour, which is rendered stronger by heat, and, 
though at first nearly tasteless, leaves a hot, acrid sensation in 
the mouth and throat. Water dissolves it partially, alcohol 
completely. It consists chiefly of a peculiar resinoid principle, 
called guaiacin or guaiacic acid, which is decomposed by the 
mineral acids. 

Effects and Uses. — Guaiacum wood and guaiac are stimu- 
lant diaphoretics, and in large doses cathartic. They are 
principally used for their alterative virtues in chronic rheuma- 
tism, secondary syphilis, and skin diseases ; guaiac has been 
used as a laxative. They are considered also to possess em- 
menagogue properties, and are employed in amenorrhoea and 
dysmenorrhoea. 

Administration. — Gfuaiacum ivood is used only as an ingre- 
dient in the compound decoction and syrup of sarsaparilla. 
Dose of guaiac, gr. x to gr. xxx, in pill or emulsion, some- 
times combined with alkalies. The tincture (six troyounces to 
alcohol Oij), and ammoniated tincture (six troyounces to ar. 
sp. of ammonia Ojj), are much used in chronic rheumatism ; the 
former is given also in amenorrhoea; dose, f5j, three or four 
times a day. They are decomposed by water, and should be 
administered in mucilage, syrup, or milk. 



252 MATERIA MEDICA. 

MEZEREU M — M EZEREON. 

Mezereon is the bark of Daphne Mezereum and Daphne 
Gnidium (Nat. Ord. Thymelacese), European shrubs, which 
grow to the height of four or five feet. The root-bark is the 
part employed in Great Britain, but the bark of our shops, 
which is brought from Germany, is the stem-bark. It comes 
in strips, from two to four feet long, and an inch or less in 
breadth, folded in bundles, or wrapped in the shape of balls. 
It has a thin, grayish, or reddish-brown, wrinkled epidermis, 
and a tough, pliable, whitish inner bark. When fresh, it has 
a faint nauseous smell, but, when dry, it is nearly inodorous. 
Its taste is at first sweetish, afterwards highly acrid. It yields 
its virtues to water and alcohol, and contains a peculiar crys- 
talline principle called daphnin, and a resin, to which it owes 
its acridity. 

Effects and Uses. — The topical action of mezeron is irritant 
and vesicant. When swallowed in large quantities, it is highly 
acrid ; in niedicinal doses, it promotes the action of the secreting 
and exhaling organs, particularly the skin and kidneys. It is 
chiefly employed in conjunction with sarsaparilla (in the com- 
pound decoction, &c), as an alterative diaphoretic, in rheu- 
matic, syphilitic, and cutaneous affections. As a masticatory, 
it has been chewed for the relief of paralysis of the muscles of 
deglutition. The fluid extract is the only preparation for in- 
ternal administration ; dose, 10 minims ; the ointment (made 
by mixing 4 fluidounces of fluid extract with 14 troyounccs of 
lard, and 2 troyounces of yellow wax, previously melted 
together), is used as a stimulating application to blistered sur- 
faces and indolent ulcers. 

SASSAFRAS. 

This is the bark of the root of Sassafras officinale (Nat. 
Ord. Lauracese), an indigenous tree of middling size. The 
bark is found in the shops in small irregular pieces of a cinna- 
mon colour, sometimes invested with a brownish epidermis. It 



DIURETICS. 253 

has a highly fragrant odour, and a sweetish aromatic taste. 
Its virtues are extracted by water and alcohol, and reside in a 
volatile oil (oleum sassafras). The oil is said to act as a physi- 
ological antidote against tobacco. 

Effects and Uses. — Sassafras bark is a mild stimulant alter- 
ative diaphoretic, used chiefly in combination with sarsaparilla. 
Its principal virtues are probably aromatic. Dose of the oil, 
two to ten drops. (For Sassafras Pith, see Demulcents.) 

STILLINGIA. 

The root of Stillingia sylvatica (Nat. Ord. Euphorbiacese), 
commonly called Queen s Delight, a perennial plant, growing 
to the height of two feet in our south Atlantic States, is 
highly esteemed by Southern physicians, as an alterative dia- 
phoretic in secondary syphilis, scrofula, cutaneous affections, 
and chronic rheumatism. Dose of the powder 15 to 30 
grains; the fluid extract is officinal and may be given in the 
dose of f5ss ; a decoction and tincture are extemporaneously 
prepared. 

ORDER IV. — DIURETICS. 

Diuretics (from Sia, thoroughly, and ovpea, I make water), are 
medicines which excite the secretion of urine. The flow of 
urine may be promoted indirectly, by increasing the quantity 
of fluid taken into the stomach, or by the removal of causes 
which check its secretion, or by mental emotion, a cool tem- 
perature, &c. It is promoted directly by the use of medicinal 
agents which specifically affect the kidneys; they are termed 
diuretics. A large proportion of diuretic medicines are found 
among the agents which influence other secretions, particularly 
diaphoretics. The functions of transpiration and urination are 
to some extent vicarious, and the same articles will prove dia- 
phoretic or diuretic, as their action may be directed to the skin 
or kidneys. External warmth and warm drinks determine the 
action of such medicines to the skin; and, on the other hand, 



254 MATERIA MEDICA. 

if the skin be kept cool, and pool diluents freely administered, 
the secretion from the kidneys is promoted. 

Blennorrhetics, or medicines which have a special action on 
the mucous membranes, exert also a diuretic influence — pro 
bably the result of the stimulating impression which they make 
on the mucous membrane of the urinary passages. When the 
action of the kidneys is obstructed by disease of the heart, 
sedatives prove diuretic, by their tranquillizing influence on the 
action of the heart. In cases of obstruction of the portal sys- 
tem, mercurials increase the efficacy of the diuretics proper; 
and also cathartics, by stimulating the flow of bile and the 
pancreatic juice. 

The principal therapeutic employment of diuretics is to pro- 
mote the absorption of dropsical effusions. They are also useful, 
in nephritic disorders attended with obstructed secretion; in 
stone or gravel, with the view of rendering the urine more 
dilute; and they may be resorted to as evacuants, to reduce 
inflammation. 

As diuretics act by becoming absorbed, they should be ad- 
ministered in a very diluted state to prevent a cathartic effect. 

The following groups of medicines, noticed under other 
heads, are employed also as diuretics: 

1. The Saline and Ethereal Refrigerants (see p. 201). 

2. The Alkaline Carbonates (see Antacids) ; and the Alkaline 
Salts, which contain a vegetable acid, as the acetates, citrates, 
and tartrates. The acid tartrate of potassium, or cream of 
tartar (see p. 228), is a very active diuretic. 

Potassii Acetas (Acetate of Potassium). This salt (KO,C 4 
H 3 3 ), formerly termed sal diureticus, from its decided diuretic 
action, is made by saturating acetic acid with bicarbonate of po- 
tassium. It is white, when pure, of a warm, pungent taste, very 
deliquescent, and wholly soluble in water and alcohol. In small 
doses, it is diuretic ; and in larger doses, gently cathartic. It is a 
good deal employed as a diuretic in dropsies, as an antacid in 
acute rheumatism, and has also been found useful as an alterative 
in cutaneous affections. As is the case with all the alkaline salts 
containing vegetable acids, the acid of this salt is decomposed 



SQUILL. 255 

in the system into carbonic acid. Although increasing the flow 
of urine, the acetate of potassium diminishes the amount both 
of uric acid and of urea in the secretion. Hence it is valuable 
in gout, and, like colchicum, it may perhaps check the actual 
formation of uric acid in the system. Dose, 3j to 5j> three or 
four times a day. 

Sodii Acetas (Acetate of Sodium), is prepared from crude 
pyroligneous acid, which is saturated with cream of lime, and 
the solution of acetate of calcium thus formed is decomposed 
by sulphate of sodium; repeated solution and recrystallization, 
with fusion, furnish a pure salt in the form of white or colourless 
striated prisms, (NaO,C 4 H 3 3 -f 6HO), which effloresce in dry air, 
are wholly soluble in water, tolerably soluble in alcohol, and have 
a sharp, bitterish, not disagreeable taste. Its effects and uses 
are analogous to those of acetate of potassium, over which it 
has the advantage of not being deliquescent. Dose, 3i to 5l 

3. Sedatives (see p. 189), particularly Digitalis (see p. 
190), which is very much employed in cardiac dropsies, in com- 
bination with squill. 

4. Blennorrlxetics (see p. 264) particularly the oleoresins. 

5. Most of the Stimulating Diajjhoretics. 

6. Among Astringents, Uva ursi (p. 156), and Pipsissewa 
(p. 157). 

SPECIAL DIURETICS. 
SCILLA — SQUILL. 

Squill is the bulb of Scilla maritima (Nat. Ord. Liliacese), a 
perennial plant, which grows on the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean. It has fibrous roots, attached to a roundish-ovate 
bulb, from which both the leaves and flower-stem spring directly, 
the latter appearing first; the leaves are broad-lanceolate, and 
from twelve to eighteen inches long ; the stem is about two feet 
high, and bears pale, yellowish-green flowers. 

The fresh bulb is pyriform, of the size of the fist to that of a 
child's head, and consists of thick, fleshy, concentric scales, 



256 MATERIA MEDICA. 

attenuated at their edges, and attached to a rudimentary stem ; 
the outer scales are very thin and papery.* Two kinds of squill 
bulbs are met with, the white and the red, which differ only in 
the colour of their scales, and are identical in medicinal virtues. 
Both abound in a viscid, acrid juice, which is very much dimin- 
ished by drying, with little loss of medicinal power. For im- 
portation, squill is usually sliced and dried, and is found in the 
shops in white or yellowish-white pieces, which, when dry, are 
brittle, but, when moist, flexible. They absorb moisture readily, 
and should be kept in well-stoppered bottles. They have a 
feeble odour, a bitter, nauseous, acrid taste, and yield their 
virtues to water, alcohol, and vinegar. Two active principles 
have been found in squill : one an acrid, poisonous, resinoid 
substance, soluble in alcohol and not in ether, the other a bitter, 
yellow principle, soluble in water and alcohol; the bitter prin- 
ciple is much less powerful. 

Physiological Effects. — In small doses, squill promotes secre- 
tion from the mucous membranes and the kidneys — its diuretic 
effect being much the most marked and constant. In larger 
doses, it excites nausea, vomiting, and occasionally purging ; 
and, in excessive doses, it acts as an acro-narcotic poison — gr. 
xxiv having proved fatal. 

Medicinal Uses. — Squill is employed principally in the treat- 
ment of dropsy ; it should not be used, however, in cases com- 
plicated with degeneration of the kidneys or inflammation of 
the bladder. Digitalis is much prescribed in combination with 
squill in the treatment of cardiac dropsies, and calomel is often 
added with a view to its action on the absorbents. As a blen- 
norrhetic expectorant, squill is an excellent remedy in chronic 
and subacute bronchial affections ; it is, however, improper in 
inflammatory cases. As an emetic, squill is too dangerous for 
general use; but it forms an ingredient in some emetic prepa- 
rations administered in croup. 

Administration. — Dose, as a diuretic or expectorant, gr. j, 
repeated and gradually increased till nausea supervenes. Gr. 
vj to gr. xij will vomit. Of the vinegar (acetum scillce), (four 
troyounces to diluted acetic acid Oij), the dose is TTJxxx to f5ij ; 



COLCHICUM. 257 

of the fluid extract, 1T|j ; of the syrup, made by dissolving 24 
troyounces of sugar in a pint of vinegar of squill, at a gentle 
heat, f5j ; of the compound syrup, known as liive syrup (which 
is prepared by percolation, by first making a solution of seneka 
and squill, in diluted alcohol and water, converting it into a 
syrup, and dissolving in it tartar emetic, one grain' of which is 
contained in every ounce of the syrup), 10 drops to f5j, accord- 
ing to the age ; of the tincture (four troyounces to diluted 
alcohol Oij), 20 to 40 drops. The compound pills of squi 
contain also ginger, ammoniac, and soap, and are used as a 
stimulant expectorant ; dose, one pill three or four times a 
day, each pill containing half a grain of squill and one grain 
of ammoniac. 



COLCHICUM. 

Colchici Radix, Colchicum Root; Colchici Semen, Colchicum Seed. 

Colchicum autumnale, or Meadow-Saffron (Nat. Ord. Melan- 
thacese), is a small, biennial, bulbous plant, which grows wild, 
in moist meadows, in England and other temperate parts of 
Europe. The bulb, or corm, as it is botanically termed, ap- 
pears in midsummer as the lateral offset from the corm of the 
preceding year, and sends up the flower-stem in the autumn — 
the leaves and fruit following in the succeeding spring. The 
leaves are broadly lanceolate, about five inches long ; the 
flowers of a lilac or light-purple colour; and the fruit oblong 
elliptical, and three-celled. 

The corms and seeds are the portions used medicinally. 
The corms are gathered in July, just before the sprouting of 
the flower from the young corm. They are somewhat like 
tulip bulbs in appearance, but solid and not composed of 
scales. They are covered by an external brown membrane, 
and an inner reddish-yellow one. Internally, they are white, 
fleshy, and solid, and contain an acrid, bitter, milky juice. 
As found in the shops, they are in the dried state, sometimes 
whole, but usually cut into transverse slices about an eighth of 

17 



258 MATERIA MEDICA. 

an inch thick, with a notch on one side, and deprived of the 
outer brown membrane. They have a hircine odour, and a 
bitter, hot, and acrid taste. The seeds are brown, about the 
size of black mustard seeds, inodorous, and have a bitter, acrid 
taste ; they are less apt to be injured by drying than the 
corms. 

Colchicum corms and seeds yield their virtues to vinegar and 
alcohol ; they both contain a peculiar non-crystallizable alka- 
loid active principle, soluble in water and alcohol, but insoluble 
in ether, termed colchicia, (C 34 II 19 NO 10 ), which ,is a powerful 
poison ; colchicia, in the saline form, is converted into another 
isomeric principle, termed colchiceine, and resin, but not proba- 
bly with loss of medicinal effect. 

Physiological Effects. — Colchicum is a local irritant. Taken 
internally, in small doses, it stimulates the secretions generally ; 
in larger doses, it produces nausea, vomiting, and purging, and 
'commonly a reduction of the frequency of the pulse ; in exces- 
sive doses, it is an acro-narcotic poison, producing death by a 
sedative action on the heart. Although placed among the diu- 
retics, colchicum does not evince a more decided action on the 
kidneys than on other secretions, as those of the skin, liver, 
and mucous membranes. 

Medicinal Uses. — Colchicum has long enjoyed a high repu- 
tation in the treatment of gout ; and, although its modus me- 
clendi is rather obscure, it is universally admitted to possess a 
more decided control over the disease than any other remedy. 
Its efficacy has been attributed to a combined sedative, ano- 
dyne, and eccritic action ; but, as it has a marked effect in 
diminishing the amount of uric acid, excreted in the urine, it 
probably arrests the formation of this acid in the blood, and in 
this way produces its anti-arthritic influence. It is usually ad- 
ministered in repeated doses, till an effect is produced on the 
bowels ; Epsom salt and magnesia are often combined w r ith it, 
as in the celebrated Scudamore s draught [magnesia, gr. xv to 
xx ; sulphate of magnesium, 5j to 5ij ; wine of colchicum seed, 
f5j to f'Sijj in any pleasant vehicle). An excellent combina- 
tion, in the treatment of gout, is colchicum {wine of the seed. 



ERIGERON. 259 

fSi), witb iodide of potassium (5ij)> dissolved in cinnamon 
water (f§viij), — dose, f§ss, three times a day, until purgation is 
produced. Quinine and digitalis are also often given advanta- 
geously with colchicum, in gout. When it is desired to act on 
the kidneys and skin rather than the bowels, opiates are some- 
times added. In rheumatism, it is also employed, but it has 
little control over this disease. It has been occasionally re- 
sorted to as a diuretic in dropsy, as a sedative in febrile and 
inflammatory diseases, as an anthelmintic, as an expectorant, 
and in some nervous affections. 

Administration. — Dose of the corm or seeds, in powder, gr. 
ij to gr. viij ; the seeds are to be preferred. The liquid prepa- 
rations, which are more generally used than the powder, are : 
The wine of the root (vinum colcliiei radicis), (twelve troyounces 
to Sherry wine Oij), dose, XY\x to f3j ; wine of the seed (vinum 
colchici seminis), (four troyounces to wine Oij), dose, f5i-ij ; 
tincture (four troyounces of the seed to diluted alcohol Oij), 
dose, f5ss to f5ij. An acetic extract of the root is also em- 
ployed — dose, gr. i-ij ; and a fluid extract of the seed, and also 
of the root — doses, 4 to 12 drops. 

ERIGERON. 

Three varieties of Erigeron are officinal : E. Canadense, or 
Canada Fleabane, E. heterophyllum, or Various-leaved Flea- 
bane, and E. Philadelphicum, or Philadelphia Fleabane (Nat. 
Ord. Asteraceae). They are herbaceous indigenous plants, two 
or three feet high, with ovate or lanceolate toothed leaves, and 
white, blue, or purple flowers. The leaves and tops are 
officinal. Canada Erigeron has an agreeable odour, and a 
bitter, acrid, somewhat astringent taste. It contains bitter ex- 
tractive, tannic and gallic acids, and volatile oil ; and is diuretic, 
tonic, and astringent. The oil of Canada Erigeron possesses 
haemostatic properties, and has been used in hemorrhagic dys- 
entery and uterine hemorrhage — dose, 5 to 10 drops ; a fluid 
extract of Canada Erigeron may be given in the dose of f5i-iv. 
Various-leaved and Philadelphia Fleabane, popularly known as 



260 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



scabious, have an aromatic odour, and a slightly bitterish taste. 
Their most striking medicinal action is diuretic, and they have 
long been favourite remedies in dropsical and nephritic affec- 
tions. An infusion or decoction, to the amount of a pint (con- 
taining a troyounce of the herb), may be taken daily. 



APOCYNUM CANNABINUM — INDIAN HEMP. 

This is an indigenous herbaceous plant (Nat. Ord. Apocyna- 
cesd), growing to the height of two or three feet, with oblong- 
Fig. 22. 




ovate leaves, and small, greenish, campanulate flowers. The 
root is the officinal portion ; it is of a yellowish-brown colour 



DANDELION. 



261 



when young, and of a dark-chestnut when old, has a strong 
odour, and a nauseous acrid, bitter taste. The fresh root, 
when wounded, pours out a milky juice; it yields its virtues to 
water and alcohol, and contains tannic and gallic acids, gum, 
resin, a bitter principle, &c, and a peculiar active principle 
termed apocynin. 

Effects and Uses. — Indian Hemp (which is not to be con- 
founded with Cannabis Indica, p. 70), is an emeto-cathartic, 
diuretic, diaphoretic, and sedative. It is chiefly employed in 
the treatment of dropsy, in the form of decoction (half a troy- 
ounce to water Ojss, boiled to Oj), of which f§i-ij may be taken 
two or three times a day. 



TARAXACUM — DANDELION. 

Taraxacum Dens-leonis, or Dandelion (Wat. Ord. Cichoraceae), 
is a small herbaceous, perennial plant, common to most parts 

Fig. 23. 




of the world, and found abundantly throughout the United 
States. It has a fusiform root, which sends up numerous long, 
sinuated, bright-green leaves, and flower-stems, about six inches 
high, bearing golden-yellow flowers. The ROOT is the officinal 
portion, and should be gathered in the autumn. In the fresh 
state, it is several inches long, branched, fleshy, of a light- 
brown colour externally, whitish within, and abounds in a milky 



262 MATERIA MEDICA. 

juice ; the fresh root is preferable for use. When dried, it is 
shrunken, wrinkled, and brittle. It is without smell, but has a 
bitter taste. Boiling water extracts its virtues, which depend 
on a peculiar bitter crystallizable principle termed taraxacin, 
soluble in boiling water, alcohol, and ether. 

Effects and Uses. — Taraxacum is diuretic and slightly ape- 
rient, with some tonic action, and a special determination to 
the liver. It is a valuable remedy in hepatic dropsies, and is 
also employed in dyspepsia, accompanied by derangement of the 
liver. It is given in the form of infusion (two troyounces to 
boiling water Oj), — dose f §ij, three times a day ; extract (an 
inspissated juice, which should not be kept above a year), — 
dose 3j to 5j three times a day ; d^udi fluid extract, — dose, f5i — 
ij, three times a day. 

JUNIPER US — JUNIPER. 

The fruit, or berries, of Juniperus communis (Nat. Ord. 
Pinacese), an evergreen European shrub, naturalized in the 
United States, are used as adjuvants to the more active diure- 
tics. When dried, they are about the size of a pea, and of a 
blackish-purple colour ; they are given in infusion (a troyounce 
to boiling water Oj). Their virtues depend on a volatile oil 
(Oleum Juniperi), the dose of which is five to fifteen drops, 
two or three times a day. The compound spirit (a fluidrachm 
and a half of the oil, with 10 minims each of the oils of cara- 
way and fennel, dissolved in 5 pints of alcohol and 3 pints of 
water), is a pleasant addition to stimulating diuretic and blen- 
norrhetic combinations, — dose, f5i-ij. The spirit is made by 
dissolving a fluidounce of the oil in 3 pints of stronger alcohol, 
— dose, f5i-ij- 

i 

CAROTA — CARROT SEED. 

Daucus Carota, or Wild Carrot (Nat. Ord. Apiacese), is a 
very common indigenous plant, which is found also wild in 
Europe. It has a biennial spindle-shaped root, an erect branch- 



HYDRASTIS. 263 

ing stem two or three feet high, tripinnate leaves with narrow, 
pointed leaflets, and small white flowers, arranged in umbels. 
The fruit or seeds which are the officinal portion, are light, 
of a brownish colour, an oval shape, convex and bristly on one 
side, and flat on the other. They have an aromatic odour, a 
warm, pungent, bitterish taste, and contain a volatile oil, on 
which their virtues depend. 

Effects and Uses. — Carrot-seeds are aromatic and diuretic, 
and are a good deal employed in dropsical and nephritic affec- 
tions, agreeing well with the stomach, from their aromatic oil. 
The infusion is a popular remedy for the relief of strangury 
from blisters. Dose, 5ss to 5j> or an infusion (half a troyounce 
to water Oj), ad libitum. 

The root of this plant possesses the same properties as 
the seeds. The root of the cultivated plant, the well-known 
garden carrot, is employed as an application to sloughing ulcers. 

CANTHARIS — CANTHARIDES. 

The properties, &c, of cantharides will be noted fully under 
the head of Irritants (subdivision Epispastics). Taken inter- 
nally, they sometimes- prove diuretic, and generally excite irri- 
tation of the genito-urinary passages, as strangury, priapism, 
&c. ; and in overdoses, act as an acro-narcotic poison. They are 
employed in atonic dropsies, incontinence of urine, amenor- 
rhoea, seminal weakness, impotence, &c. Dose, gr. i-ij, twice a 
day, in pill. They are most commonly administered in tincture 
(a troyounce to diluted alcohol Oij), — dose, gtt. x, or more, 
three or four times a day, till strangury supervenes. 

The following medicines, though less frequently resorted to 
than the foregoing, possess very decided diuretic properties, 
and may be employed with advantage in the treatment of drop- 
sical and nephritic affections : 

The root of Hydrastis Canadensis, or Yellow Root 
{Nat. Ord. Ranunculaceae), a small indigenous plant, which 
contains the alkaloid berberina (previously noticed), and an- 



264 MATERIA MEDICA. 

other alkaloid hydrastia, is a very efficacious diuretic in pro- 
moting the discharge of calculi from the kidneys ; the fluid 
extract may be given in doses of f 5ij-iv. 

The seed of Delphinium Consolida, or Larkspur (Nat. 
Ord. Ranunculacese). a European plant, cultivated in our gar- 
dens, and to some extent naturalized. 

The tops (and also the seeds) of Sarothamnus Scoparius 
or Broom, (Nat. Ord. Fabaceae), a European shrub, cultivated 
in our gardens. 

The root of Petroselinum Sativum, or Parsley (Nat. 
Ord. Apiaceae), a European plant cultivated in our vegetable 
gardens, for its leaves. Parsley contains a peculiar princi- 
ple termed apiol, a yellowish oily liquid, which has been used 
in amenorrhoea and dysmenorrhoea, in the dose of four grains, 
morning and evening. 

The ROOT of COCHLEARIA ARMORACIA, or HORSE RADISH 

(Nat. Ord. Brassicaceae), a European plant, cultivated here for 
its root, which is used as a condiment. 

ORDER V. — BLENNORRHETICS. 

Blennorrheas (from piewa, mucus, and P eu, I flow), are 
medicines which promote the secretion of the mucous mem- 
branes. They are employed therapeutically in morbid con- 
ditions of these membranes, with a view to the restoration of 
healthy action, in cases of deficient, abnormal, or excessive 
secretion. 

When administered with the object of stimulating the secre- 
tion of mucus from the bronchial or laryngeal membrane, this 
class of agents is termed expectorants. They are prescribed in 
the subacute and chronic forms of bronchitis and laryngitis, 
and in the declining stages of the acute forms of these affec- 
tions and pneumonia. In the early or inflammatory stages of 
acute bronchitis and laryngitis, the stimulating expectorants 
are inadmissible, until expectoration has been established. 

The blennorrhetics are less employed in gastro-enteric affec- 
tions than in those of other mucous membranes, owing to their 



SENEKA. 



265 



tendency to produce catharsis. Several of the oleoresins are, 
however, used with advantage in certain forms of chronic diar- 
rhoea, and the oil of turpentine is highly esteemed in the treat- 
ment of the diarrhoea of typhoid fever. 

The oleoresinous articles of this group are extensively em- 
ployed in diseases of the urino-genital mucous membranes, — 
gonorrhoea, gleet, leucorrhoea, incontinence of urine, cysti- 
tis, &c. 

The following are the articles chiefly resorted to for their 
influence on the mucous membranes : 



SENEGA — SENEKA. 

Polygala Senega, or Seneka Snakeroot (Nat. Ord. Polyga- 
laceae), is a small indigenous plant, found in all parts of the 
United States, but most abundantly in the South and West. 

Fig. 24. 




It has a perennial, branching root, several erect annual stems, 
about a foot in height, alternate lanceolate leaves, and small, 



266 • MATERIA MEDICA. 

whitish flowers, arranged in a terminal spike. The ROOT is the 
officinal portion. It occurs in the shops in twisted pieces, vary- 
ing in thickness from the size of a quill to that of the little 
finger, attached to a knotty head, and marked with a ridge 
along their whole length, and numerous annular protuberances. 
The cortical portion is hard, resinous, of a yellowish-brown 
colour, and contains the active qualities of the root. The cen- 
tral ligneous portion is white and inert. The odour of seneka 
is peculiar and disagreeable, but faint in the dried root; the 
taste is at first mucilaginous and sweetish, but afterwards be- 
comes acrid and very irritating. 

The virtues of seneka are extracted by cold and hot water 
and alcohol. It contains a peculiar acrid acid principle called 
polygalic acid, on which its activity chiefly depends. 

Effects and Uses. — Seneka, in small doses, is an active ex- 
citant of the mucous membranes and secretions generally, and 
in large doses proves emetic and cathartic. It is chiefly pre- 
scribed as a stimulating expectorant in chronic and subacute 
bronchial affections, and in the latter stages of acute bronchitis, 
pneumonia, &c. As an ingredient in the compound syrup of 
squill, it is much employed in the treatment of croup, but, 
except in some such combination with tartar emetic or other 
emetic nauseant, it is scarcely admissible in the early stages of 
this disease. Seneka is also thought to possess emmenagogue 
properties, and is highly extolled by many practitioners in the 
treatment of amenorrhcea. It has been occasionally used as a 
diuretic in dropsies, and, in emeto-cathartic doses, has been 
found useful in rheumatism. 

Administration. — Dose, in powder, gr. x to 3j ; but it is 
chiefly given in decoction (a troyounce boiled for fifteen minutes 
in water enough to make the decoction measure Oj), dose, f§ij, 
three or four times a day. An extract (alcoholic), is given in 
the dose of from one to three grains; a fluid extract, in the dose 
of tT[x-xx ; and a syrup is also used, in the dose of f5i-ij, 
(made by percolating four troyounces of seneka with two pints 
of diluted alcohol, evaporating to half a pint, and dissolving 
in this tincture fifteen troyounces of sugar by a gentle heat.) 



CIMICIFUGA. 



267 



CIMICIFUGA. 



Cimicifuga racemosa, Black Snakeroot, or Cohosh (Nat. Ord. 
Ranunculacere), is a very common indigenous perennial plant, 




growing to the height of from four to eight feet, with ternate 
leaves, oblong-ovate, incised, and toothed leaflets, and small, 
white flowers, disposed in a long raceme. The root is the part 
employed. It consists of a rugged, blackish-brown caudex, 
from a third of an inch to an inch in thickness, often several 
inches in length, furnished with numerous slender radicles. 



268 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Internally, its colour is whitish ; it has a peculiar, faint, disa- 
greeable odour, and a bitter, somewhat astringent taste. It im- 
parts its virtues to boiling water, and contains gum, starch, 
resin, tannic and gallic acids, salts, and a portion of volatile 
oil. 

Effects and Uses. — The effects of cimicifuga are not very 
accurately known, but it is undoubtedly an active stimulant of 
the secretions, particularly those of the mucous membranes, 
skin, and kidneys, with, probably, in large doses, a sedative 
and antispasmodic action on the nervous system. It is believed, 
also, to act on the uterus like ergot. It has been employed with 
great advantage as an expectorant in chronic bronchial affec- 
tions, and even phthisis pulmonalis, and has been also used as a 
diaphoretic in rheumatism, and as a diuretic in dropsies. As 
an antispasmodic in chorea, it enjoys a high reputation, and it 
is also recommended in the spasmodic forms of hysteria, par- 
ticularly when connected with amenorrhoea. It is employed 
too, occasionally, to promote the expulsion of the placenta after 
delivery, in the relief of after-pains, and in menorrhagia. A 
saturated alcoholic solution has been used, with good effect, as 
an application to the eyelids in ophthalmia. 

Administration. — Dose, in potvder, 3j to 5j ; a decoction (not 
officinal) is employed. Of the fluid extract, the dose is f5ss-j. 



ALLIUM — GARLIC. 

Allium sativum (Nat. Ord. Liliacese), is a small, perennial, 
bulbous plant, which grows wild in the south of Europe, and 
is cultivated in all parts of the world. The bulb is the portion 
used. As found in the shops, it is somewhat spherical in form, 
about an inch in diameter, with a portion of the stem attached, 
covered with a white, membranous envelope, and consists of five 
or six smaller bulbs, of a curved, oblong shape, called cloves 
of garlic. They have a strong, irritating, characteristic odour, 
and a bitter, acrid taste. Water, alcohol, and vinegar extract 
their virtues, which depend on an essential oil, which is of a 



TURPENTINE. 269 

yellow colour, very volatile and irritating ; it is a sulphuret of 
a peculiar radical, termed allyl (C 6 H 5 ). 

Effects and Uses. — Garlic is a local irritant and rubefacient, 
and, taken internally, quickens the circulation and stimulates 
the secretions generally. It is a good deal employed as an ex- 
pectorant in chronic and subacute catarrhal affections, particu- 
larly in infantile cases, and, occasionally, as a stomachic in 
flatulence, and as a diuretic in atonic dropsies. Externally, it 
is used as a revulsive rubefacient to the feet, as a resolvent of 
indolent tumors, and as a liniment in infantile convulsions. 

Administration. — A clove may be swallowed entire, or cut 
into small pieces. Dose of the fresh bulbs, 5i-ij, in pill ; of 
the juice, fSss, mixed with sugar; of the syrup (made by mace- 
rating 6 troyounces of garlic in 10 fluidounces of diluted acetic 
acid, expressing, mixing the residue with 6 fluidounces more of 
diluted acetic acid, expressing, and dissolving in the expressed 
liquid 24 troyounces of sugar), f5j, for children. 

SCILLA — SQUILL. 

Squill, already noticed among diuretics, is one of the most 
powerful and valuable stimulating expectorants in the Materia 
Medica. (For properties, doses, preparations, &c, seep. 256.) 

TEREBINTHINA — TURPENTINE. 

The term turpentine is applied to liquid or concrete vegetable 
juices, consisting of resin combined with a peculiar essential 
oil, called oil of turpentine. Two kinds of turpentine are re- 
cognized by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia : 1. The common Ameri- 
can white turpentine, which is procured chiefly from Pinus palus- 
tris (Nat. Ord. Pinacese), a large indigenous evergreen tree of 
our Southern States, where it is called Long-leaved Pine, 
Yellow Pine, and Pitch Pine, and in part also from Pinus 
Tseda, found in Virginia, and other species of Pinus. 2. Can- 
ada turpentine (Terebinthina Canadensis), kept in the shops 
under the name of Canada balsam or balsam of fir, the product of 



270 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Abies balsam ea, the American Silver Fir, or Balm of Gilead 
Tree {Nat, Ord. Pinacese), a handsome tree about 40 feet in 
height, inhabiting the northern portions of North America. 
Many other varieties of turpentine are known in commerce, as 
Bordeaux turpentine, Venice turpentine, Chian turpentine, &c. 
White turpentine comes from North Carolina and other 
Southern States, and is collected from excavations made in the 
trunks of the trees, into which the turpentine runs in the mild 
weather. It is yellowish-white, and somewhat translucent, 
semi-fluid in summer, firm and hard in winter, but becoming 
permanently hard by exposure to the air, and has a peculiar 
aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent, bitterish taste. Canada 
turpentine comes from Canada and Maine. It is procured by 
breaking the vesicles, which are found between the bark and 
wood of the trees, and collecting the liquid contents in a bottle. 
When fresh, it has the consistence of honey, but gradually 
solidifies by age. It is yellow, transparent, tenacious, of a 
peculiar, pleasant terebinthinate odour, and a slightly bitter, 
acrid taste. 

Chemical Constituents. — The turpentines yield, by distilla- 
tion, a volatile oil, known as oil of turpentine, and leave a 
residue consisting exclusively of resin. Both the oil and resin 
are officinal. The turpentines are inflammable, nearly insolu- 
ble in water, but almost wholly soluble in alcohol and ether. 

Physiological Effects. — The local operation of the terebin- 
thinates is irritant. When applied to the skin, they produce a 
rubefacient effect, and when swallowed, in large doses, promote 
the peristaltic motion of the intestines. Taken internally, in 
small doses, they are absorbed, and prove excitant to the vas- 
cular system and the secretions generally, especially the 
mucous membranes ; they communicate a violet odour to the 
urine. The activity of the terebinthinates depends on their 
volatile oil. 

Medicinal Uses. — Turpentine is employed chiefly in diseases 
of the various mucous membranes, as gonorrhoea, gleet, leu- 
corrhoea, cystorrhcea, chronic bronchitis, and chronic mucous 
diarrhoea. It is also used in rheumatic complaints ; and, 



OIL OF TURPENTINE. 271 

in cathartic doses, in cases of ascarides, constipation, and 
colic. 

Administration. — Dose, as a blennorrhetic, 3j to 5j in pill, 
emulsion, or electuary ; as an anthelmintic or cathartic, half a 
troyounce to an ounce, in emulsion. The white turpentine is 
generally used in this country. 

Oleum Terebinthin^: {Oil of Turpentine) (C 20 H 16 ), com- 
monly called Spirit of Turpentine, is the active principle of 
turpentine, obtained by distillation. It is a limpid, colourless, 
volatile, and inflammable liquid, of a strong, penetrating, 
peculiar odour, and a hot, pungent, bitterish taste ; very 
slightly soluble in water, less soluble in alcohol than the 
volatile oils generally, and wholly soluble in ether ; exposed 
to the air, it absorbs oxygen, with the formation of resin. 
This oil has been already noticed under the head of aro- 
matic stimulants (p. 182). Its effects and medicinal uses 
are the same as those of turpentine, for which it is usually 
substituted in practice. Locally, it acts as a rubefacient. 
When swallowed in large doses, as fsi-ij, it commonly passes 
off by the bowels ; and, taken in small doses, it is absorbed, 
and stimulates the circulation and the secretions of the mucous 
membranes, kidneys, and skin. It often produces strangury 
and considerable irritation of the urinary-genital passages. 
In large doses, it is employed as an anthelmintic and cathar- 
tic, and is much used as a clyster for the relief of tympan- 
ites. In small doses, it is greatly prescribed in chronic 
discharges from the various mucous membranes; in the latter 
stages of typhoid fever as a combined stimulant and blenor- 
rhetic ; as a diaphoretic in rheumatism and neuralgia; in in- 
fantile diabetes, nephritic disorders, dropsy, &c. As a rube- 
facient, it is a valuable counter-irritant in numerous diseases. 

Dose, gtt. v-xxx, repeated, as a blenorrhetic stimulant ; foss 
— f 5j , as a cathartic enema, or anthelmintic, in emulsion. Lini- 
mentum terebinthince (oil of turpentine Oss, melted with resin 
cerate twelve troyounces), is used as an application to burns 
and scalds. 



272 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Pix Liqulda [Tar) is an impure turpentine, procured by 
burning, from the wood of Pinus palustris, and other species 
of Pinus. It is a brownish-black, viscid, semi-liquid substance, 
of a peculiar empyreumatic odour, and a bitterish, resinous, 
somewhat acid taste — soluble in alcohol, ether, and the volatile 
and fixed oils. It consists of resin, united with acetic acid, 
oil of turpentine, and various volatile, empyreumatic products. 
By distillation, it yields pyroligneous acid and oil of tar — the 
residuum being pitch. 

The oil of tar contains, besides oil of turpentine, creasote 
(see p. 160), and other principles. 

Effects and Uses. — Tar resembles the turpentines in its 
effects, and is employed in chronic catarrhal affections and 
other diseases of the mucous membranes. Its vapour has been 
employed in bronchitis ; and, externally, it is an excellent 
application in tinea capitis, psoriasis, and other cutaneous affec- 
tions. Dose, 5ss to 5j 5 several times a day, in pill or electuary; 
or the infusion (infusum picis liquidae), (made by digesting tar 
Oj with water Oiv), may be taken in the quantity of Oi-ij, 
daily. Crlycerite of tar [glyceritum picis liquids), is made by 
rubbing a troyounce of tar first with two troyounces of carbon- 
ate of magnesium, and then with six fluidounces of a mixture of 
four fluidounces of glycerine, two of alcohol, and ten of water ; 
the residue is to be rubbed with half of the remaining liquid, 
and the process again repeated with the remaining liquid; the 
residue is to be percolated with the expressed liquids previously 
mixed, and afterwards water enough is added to make the 
whole measure a pint; a fluidounce contains 30 grains of tar. 
The ointment (unguentum picis liquids), is made by mixing 
equal parts of tar and melted suet. 

K.esina (Resiii), commonly called rosin, is the residue after 
the distillation of the oil from turpentine. It is a yellowish- 
brown, semi-transparent, solid, brittle substance, with a slight 
terebinthinate odour and taste — insoluble in water, soluble in 
ether, alcohol, and the essential oils, readily uniting by fusion 
with wax and the fixed oils, and forming soluble soaps with 



COPAIBA. 273 

alkalies. When agitated with water, in a state of fusion, it 
becomes opaque and white. It is not used internally, but is 
extensively employed in the formation of plasters and oint- 
ments, to which it communicates great adhesiveness and slightly 
stimulant properties. 

Ceratum Resino? (Resin Cerate), commonly called basilicon 
ointment, is made by melting resin (5 parts), lard (8 parts), 
and yellow wax (2 parts), together: it is an excellent mild 
stimulant application to burns, blistered surfaces, &c. Com- 
pound Resin Cerate, made by melting 12 troyounces of resin, 
suet, and yellow wax, each, with 6 troyounces of turpentine, 
and 7 troyounces of flaxseed oil, is a good stimulant cerate, 
very popular under the name of Deshler s Salve. Emplastrum 
Resince {Resin Plaster), made by melting one part of resin 
with six parts of lead plaster, is the well-known adhesive 
plaster, used to retain the edges of wounds in contact, to pro- 
duce extension in the treatment of fractures, to protect ex- 
coriated surfaces, to promote absorption, &c. 

COPAIBA. 

Copaiba is an oleo-besin obtained from several species of 
Copaifera (Nat. Ord. Amyridacese), large trees peculiar to South 
America. C. multijuga, a native of Brazil, is now recognized as 
the principal source of copaiba, and most of the copaiba of com- 
merce is probably derived from the province of Para, in Brazil; 
Central America also yields copaiba. The juice is obtained 
from incisions in the stems of the trees: as it at first exudes, 
it is clear, colourless, and very thin, but it soon acquires a 
thicker consistence, and a yellowish hue. As found in the 
shops, it is a clear, transparent liquid, of the consistence of 
olive oil, of apale-yellow colour, a peculiar agreeable smell, and 
a pungent, nauseous, acrid taste. By exposure to the air, it 
acquires a deeper colour and denser consistence. 

Copaiba is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether, 
and the volatile and fixed oils ; with alkalies and alkaline 
earths, it forms a soap. It is. chemically, an oleo-resin, with a 

18 



274 MATERIA MEDICA. 

minute portion of acetic acid; the volatile oil is officinal; the 
resin possesses acid properties, and is called copaivic acid. A By 
exposure to the air, copaiba gradually becomes darker and 
thicker, and finally hard and brittle, owing to the volatilization 
and oxidation of its oil. Copaiba was formerly called a balsam, 
but this title is incorrect, as it contains no benzoic or einnamic 
acid. 

Effects and Uses. — The effects of copaiba are very analogous 
to those of the terebinthinates. In large doses, it proves ca- 
thartic, and occasionally emetic, and, in small doses, it is 
absorbed, communicating its peculiar odour to the secretions 
and exhalations, and stimulating the secretions from the mucous 
membranes and kidneys; it is also a gentle excitant to the cir- 
culatory system. It is employed in diseases of the mucous 
membranes, particularly those of a chronic character, as chronic 
bronchitis, chronic diarrhoea, leucorrhoea, gonorrhoea, gleet, 
catarrh, and irritation of the bladder, &c. As a remedy in 
gonorrhoea, it has long enjoyed great popularity, and is given 
with advantage in the earliest stages of the disorder. 

Administration. — Dose, gtt. xx to f5j, three times a day in 
emulsion, with some aromatic water, or in pills (pills of copaiba), 
made by mixing 2 troy ounces of copaiba with 60 grains of 
magnesia, and dividing the mass after it concretes into 200 pills, 
or inclosed in capsules of gelatin. It is also administered as a 
clyster, in emulsion. Cubeb is frequently prescribed with 
copaiba, in the treatment of gonorrhoea. 

Oleum Copaibje [Oil of Copaiba), (C 20 H 16 ), obtained by dis- 
tillation from copaiba, is usually colourless, with the odour and 
taste of copaiba, and produces the same effects on the system. 
Dose, gtt. x— xv, in emulsion, or dropped on sugar. 

CUBEB A — C U B E B. 

Cubeb is the unripe fruit of Piper Cubeba, or Cubeba Of- 
ficinalis {Nat. Ord. Piperacese), a climbing, perennial plant of 
Java and other parts of the East Indies. The berries are gath- 
ered for use when unripe, and are dried. They are about the 



^CUBEB. 275 

size of a small pea, of a blackish or grayish-brown colour, a 
reticulated surface, and furnished with a stalk two or three 
inches long. The shell is hard, and contains a blackish seed, 
which is white and oily within. The odour of cubeb is aro- 
matic ; the taste warm, acrid, and camphoraceous. The berries 
deteriorate by age, most rapidly in powder, owing to the escape 
of their volatile oil. Their most interesting constituents are a 
volatile oil (which is officinal), C 15 H 12 , a principle called 
cubebin, and resinous matter. The oil is carminative and stimu- 
lant, and the blennorrhetic and diuretic properties of cubeb 
reside chiefly in the resin; cubebin is inert. 

Effects and Uses. — In large doses, cubeb, like the other 
oleoresins, produces more or less gastro-enteric disturbance. 
In small doses, it is absorbed, and acts as a gentle excitant to 
the vascular system, with a very decided stimulant action on 
the mucous surfaces, particularly those of the urino-genital ap- 
paratus ; it also frequently proves diuretic. It is chiefly used 
in the treatment of gonorrhoea, and should be given in the early 
stage of the disease. In other mucous discharges, as chronic 
catarrh with profuse secretion, leucorrhoea, gleet, cystitis, &c, 
cubeb has also been employed with advantage. 

Administration. — Dose of the powder, 5i-ii]\ three times a 
day, in gonorrhoea ; in chronic mucous disorders, smaller doses 
are given. The oil is often employed, but it does not possess 
the full virtues of cubeb — dose, gtt. x-xij, to be repeated and 
gradually increased ; it may be taken in emulsion, or dropped 
on sugar, or made into gelatinous capsules with oil of copaiba. 
The oleoresin contains both the volatile oil and resin, with a 
portion of cubebin, and is an excellent preparation — dose 
TT|y-xxx, suspended in water ; of the tincture (four troyounces 
to diluted alcohol Oij), the dose is f5i-ij, three times a day; of 
the fluid extract, the dose is f5ss-i. Troches of cubeb are 
made with half a fluidounce of the oleoresin, a fluidrachm of oil 
of sassafras, 4 troyounces of liquorice, 3 troyounces of sugar, 
2 troyounces of gum Arabic, mixed with enough syrup of Tolu 
to form a mass, and divided into 480 troches. 



276 MATERIA MEDICA. 



MATICO. 



This name is given to the leaves of Artanthe elongata (Nat. 
Ord. Piperacese), a shrub of Peru. They are two or three 
inches long, by about an inch in breadth, oval-lanceolate and 
acuminate in shape, crenate, reticulate, bright-green on the 
upper surface, paler beneath, of a pleasant, aromatic odour, and 
a strong, spicy taste. They contain chlorophyll, resin, volatile 
oil, and a peculiar bitter principle, soluble in water and alcohol, 
termed maticin. 

Effects and Uses. — Matico is a pleasant aromatic tonic, with 
a special determination to the mucous membranes. It is used 
as an alterative stimulant in the entire circle of diseased mucous 
membranes, especially those of the urinary passages. It is 
also used internally as a hemostatic, and locally as a styptic. 
Dose, of the powder, 5ss-j, three times a day. An infusion 
(not officinal) may be made by dissolving a troy ounce in a pint 
of boiling water — dose, a wineglassful ; of the fluid extract, 
the dose is f5ss-j. 

PAREIRA — PAREIRA BRAVA. 

Pareira Brava is stated by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia to be 
the root of Cissampelos Pareira (Nat. Ord. Menispermacese), 
a climbing plant of the West Indies and South America. But 
the origin of the Pareira Brava of the shops is still uncertain. 
It comes to us in large, wrinkled, twisted, or forked, cylindrical 
pieces, of variable thickness and length, covered with a thin, 
grayish-brown bark. The interior is ligneous, yellowish, porous, 
inodorous, and of a sweetish, nauseous, bitter taste. It im- 
parts its virtues to water, and contains a bitter alkaline prin- 
ciple, termed cissampelina, resin, fecula, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — Pareira Brava is an excellent remedy in 
chronic diseases of the urinary passages, particularly chronic 
inflammation or irritation of the bladder, with morbid secre- 
tion. It is said to be also tonic, aperient, and diuretic. Dose, 



MYRRH. 277 

in substance, 5ss to 5j- But it is more conveniently given in 
infusion (a troy ounce to boiling water Oj), dose, f§i-ij ; the 
fluid extract is much used— dose from half a fluidrachm to a 
fluidrachm. 

BUCHU. 

This is the name given to the leaves of Barosma crenata 
and other species of Barosma (Nat. Oral. Rutacese), shrubby 
plants, growing at the Cape of Good Hope. As found in the 
shops, buchu leaves are from three-quarters of an inch to an 
inch and a half long, from three to five lines broad, elliptical, 
lanceolate-ovate, or obovate, sometimes pointed, sometimes 
blunt, notched and glandular at the edges, and of a green 
colour, paler on the under surface. Three varieties are known, 
viz. : short or round buchu (derived from B. crenata), medium 
sized (from B. crenulata), and long buchu (from B. serratifolia). 
They have a strong, aromatic odour, and a bitterish taste, like 
that of mint. Water and alcohol extract their virtues, which 
depend on a volatile oil and extractive. 

Effects and Uses.— Buchu is a gentle stimulant to the secre- 
tions generally, particularly to the kidneys and urinary mucous 
membranes ; it may be made to act also as a diaphoretic. It 
is employed in chronic catarrh of the urethra and bladder, 
nephritic complaints, retention or incontinence of urine — as a 
diuretic, in dropsies — and as a diaphoretic in rheumatic and 
cutaneous complaints. Dose, of the powder, gr. xx-xxx; of 
the infusion (a troyounce to boiling water Oj), f5i-ij ; of the 
fluid extract (f5ss-f5j). 



MYRRH A — MYRRH. 

Myrrh is a GUM-RESINOUS exudation from Balsamodendron 
Myrrha (Nat, Ord. Amyridacese), a small tree of Arabia Felix 
and Africa ; B. Kua is thought to be also a source of myrrh, 
and most of the myrrh of commerce is probably derived from 
the eastern coast of Africa. The juice exudes spontaneously 



278 MATERIA MEDICA. 

and concretes upon the bark. It is imported from Bombay, 
and occurs in small, semi-transparent, reddish-yellow fragments 
or tears — sometimes agglutinated together in large masses — of 
irregular shape and size, an agreeable, peculiar odour, and a 
bitter, aromatic taste. It is bitter and pulverizable, has a resi- 
nous fracture, and makes a light-yellowish powder. Inferior 
kinds of myrrh are darker and less translucent and odorous. 
Myrrh is a gum-resin, containing also a little volatile oil. It 
forms with water an emulsion, and is soluble in alcohol and 
ether. 

Effects and Uses. — Myrrh is a stimulant expectorant and 
emmenagogue. It is prescribed in chronic catarrhal and asth- 
matic affections, in which a combined corroborant and expecto- 
rant effect is desirable ; and also in chlorosis, amenorrhoea, 
&c. Chalybeates and aloes are frequently united with it in 
uterine affections. Locally, it is a good application to spongy 
gums, aphthous sore mouth, &c. 

Administration. — Dose, gr. x to 5ss, in powder or pill, or 
suspended in water, as in Mistura Ferri Composita (see p. 129). 
The tincture (three troyounces to alcohol Oij), is chiefly em- 
ployed externally — dose, internally, f5ss to f5j. Pills of Aloes 
and Myrrh, Compound Gcalbanum Pills, and Compound Iron 
Pills, are officinal emmenagogue preparations of myrrh. 



BENZOINU M — B E N Z 1 N. 

Benzoin is a solid balsam obtained from Styrax Benzoin, 
or Benjamin Tree (Nat. Ord. Styracese), a tall tree of Sumatra, 
Java, Borneo, and Siam. It is obtained by incisions in the 
bark, from which it readily exudes, afterwards hardening by 
exposure to the sun and air. Two kinds are known, the more 
valuable consisting chiefly of whitish tears, united by a reddish- 
brown connecting medium, and called benzoe amygdaloides, the 
other of brown or blackish lumps, without tears, known as 
benzoe in sortis {benzoin in sorts). Benzoin is volatile, has a 
fragrant odour, a feeble, slightly aromatic taste, is soluble in 
alcohol and ether, and is precipitated from its alcoholic solution 



BENZOIC ACID. 279 

by water. Its chief constituents are resin and benzoic acid, 
which places it among the balsams; it contains also a trace of 
extractive and of volatile oil; and sometimes cinnamic acid. 

Effects and Uses. — Benzoin is a topical irritant, and, after 
absorption, stimulates the mucous passages, especially the 
aerian membranes. It resembles myrrh in its effects, but is 
rather more acrid and stimulating. It is adapted to chronic 
bronchial affections, but is seldom employed alone. As a 
fumigation in chronic laryngitis, it has been recommended 
by Trousseau and Pidoux. Dose, gr. x to 5ss. The tincture 
of benzoin (6 troy ounces to alcohol 2 pints), and the compound 
tincture (containing benzoin 3 troyounces, aloes half a troy- 
ounce, storax 2 troyounces, balsam of Tolu a troyounce, dis- 
solved in alcohol 2 pints), are used as stimulating expector- 
ants and in bowel complaints — dose, f 5ss to f 5\j- Ointment of 
benzoin is made by adding 2 fluidounces of the tincture to 16 
troyounces of melted lard, and evaporating off the alcohol ; as 
benzoin has the property of obviating the rancidity to which 
lard is liable, this is a very useful vehicle for medicated oint- 
ments. 

Acidum Benzoicum (Benzoic Acid), is obtained from ben- 
zoin by sublimation, or by the action of alkalies ; it is also 
made in Germany from hippuric acid. As obtained by subli- 
mation, it occurs in white, soft, feathery crystals, of a silky 
lustre, and not pulverulent. It has more or less of the agreea- 
ble odour of the balsam, a warm, acrid, and acidulous taste, is 
inflammable, sparingly soluble in cold water, rather soluble in 
boiling water, but perfectly soluble in alcohol, alkaline solu- 
tions, and fixed oils. It is a constituent of the balsams. 

^Effects and Uses. — Benzoic acid is a local irritant, acting on 
the general system as a stimulant, with a particular direction 
to the mucous surfaces. Dose, gr. x. In its passage through 
the system, it abstracts nitrogen from the elements of urea, 
and passes out with the urine in the form of hippuric acid ; 
hence its use in uraemic poisoning. 



280 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Ammonii Benzoas (Benzoate of Ammonium), is made by 
adding water of ammonia to an aqueous solution of benzoic 
acid, and occurs in the form of minute, white, shining, thin, 
four-sided, laminar crystals, with a slight odour of benzoic acid, 
and a bitterish saline, somewhat balsamic taste, and slightly 
acrid, but persistent aftertaste. It is soluble in water and 
alcohol, and, when heated, sublimes without residue. It is in- 
compatible with the sesquisalts of iron. > This salt, when 
taken internally, is probably decomposed by the gastric acids, 
and produces the constitutional effects of benzoic acid, for which 
it may be substituted ; the ammonia renders it stimulant and 
antacid, and acceptable to irritable stomachs, — dose, 10 to 20 
grains. 

STYRAX — STOll AX. 

Storax is a balsam, prepared from the bark of Liquidam- 
bar orientale (Nat. Ord. Styracese), a native of Asia Minor. 
It occurs in yellowish or brownish lumps, light and friable, yet 
more or less tenacious, of a fragrant odour and a warm taste. 
It contains volatile oil and resin, with benzoic acid, and is 
therefore a balsam. Alcohol and ether are its proper solvents. 
It is almost always more or less adulterated. 

Effects and Uses. — It is used as a stimulant expectorant, 
chiefly in the compound tincture of benzoin, — dose, gr. x-xx. 



BALSAM UM PERUVIANUM — BALSAM OF PERU. 

Balsam of Peru is an empyreumatic liquid balsam, obtained 
from Myrospermum Peruiferum (Nat. Ord. Leguminosse), a 
tree of Central America. It is obtained from incisions in the 
bark, and is collected on rags inserted in the openings, which 
are afterwards boiled in water, when the balsam settles at the 
bottom, and the water is poured off. A white balsam, obtained 
from the fruit of this tree by expression, and a tincture of the 
fruit in rum, are also known in Central America. Balsam of 
Peru has the consistence of honey, a dark, reddish-brown colour, 



BALSAM OF TOLU. 281 

a pleasant smell, a warm, acrid taste, and is soluble in alcohol, 
and partially so in boiling water. It is heavier than water. 
Its constituents are resin, essential oil, and cinnamic acid. 

Effects and Uses. — It is a stimulating blennorrhetic and tonic, 
occasionally employed in chronic catarrhs, asthma, gonorrhoea, 
leucorrhoea, &c, but not much used in this country. Exter- 
nally, it is applied to indolent ulcers. Dose, f 5ss, in emulsion. 



BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM — BALSAM OF TOLU. 

Balsam of Tolu is a semi-liquid balsam obtained from Myros- 
permum Toluiferum (Nat. Ord. Leguminosge), a tree of the 
neighbourhood of Carthagena. It is procured from incisions in 
the trunk of the tree, and concretes in the vessels in which it 
is received. It has a soft, tenacious consistence, varying with 
the temperature, and by age becomes hard and resin-like. It 
is shining, translucent, of a reddish-brown colour, a fragrant 
odour, and a warm, sweetish, pungent taste. It is inflammable, 
entirely soluble in alcohol and essential oils, and, like the other 
balsams, yields its acid to boiling water. Its ingredients are 
resin, volatile oil, and cinnamic acid. 

Effects and Uses. — It is a stimulant blennorrhetic and tonic, 
useful in chronic catarrhal affections, and, from its agreeable 
flavour, much employed as an ingredient of cough mixtures. 
The vapour of an ethereal solution of this balsam is inhaled with 
advantage for the relief of cough. Dose, gr. x-xxx, in emul- 
sion, frequently repeated. The tincture (tinctura Tolutana), 
three troyounces to alcohol Oij) is added to cough mixtures; 
dose, f5i-ij' The syrup (Si/rupus Tolutanus), (made by rubbing 
2 fluidounces of tincture of Tolu with 120 grains of carbonate 
of magnesium, 2 troyounces of sugar, and a pint of water, fil- 
tering, and in the filtered liquid dissolving 24 troyounces of 
sugar at a gentle heat), is used as a vehicle for other medicines. 
Balsam of Tolu is an ingredient of the compound tincture of 
benzoin. 



282 MATERIA MEDICA. 

The following gum-resins, previously noticed among anti- 
spasmodics, are employed as expectorants. 
Assafcetida (Assafetida). (See p. 90). 
Ammoniacum (Ammoniac). (See p. 93). 
Galbanum. (See p. 92). 

ORDER VI. — EMMENAGOGUES. 

Emmenagogues (from e^vta, the catamenia, and ayuyog, ex- 
citing) are medicines which promote the menstrual discharge. 
This discharge may be suppressed from various causes, and 
hence very opposite classes of remedies are employed to restore 
it. Thus, when amenorrhoea depends on anaemia, the prepa- 
rations of iron are the most effectual emmenagogues ; on 
the other hand, when it occurs in connection with plethora, blood- 
letting and evacuants are resorted to. There are probably 
no articles which exert any specific influence upon the cata- 
menia, as the discharge from the uterus is not one of the ex- 
cretions through which medicinal agents pass out of the sys- 
tem. Medicines, however, which excite the pelvic circulation, 
and stimulate the organs in the neighbourhood of the uterus, 
have a tendency to increase or excite the menstrual discharge. 
They are — 

1. The drastic cathartics, as Aloes (p. 233), Black Helle- 
bore (p. 241), &c. . . 

2. Many of the stimulating diuretics, particularly Cantha- 
ris (p. 263). 

3. Some of the hlennorrhetics, particularly Seneka (p. 
265). 

4. Guaiacum (p. 250), usually classed with the diaphoretics. 
Indirectly, the menstrual discharge is frequently promoted 

by- 

1. Qhalybeates, which are the best emmenagogues in chlo- 
rotic and anaemic cases. 

2. Mercurials, which prove emmenagogue from their influ- 
ence in exciting the secretions generally. 



rue. 283 

The following articles are employed exclusively as emmena- 
gogues : 

SABINA — SAVINE. 

Savine is the TOPS of Juniperus Sabina (Nat. Ord. Pinacese), 
a small, evergreen, bushy shrub of the south of Europe. They 
resemble closely the tops of Juniperus Virginiana, the indige- 
nous Med Cedar, which are sometimes substituted for savine in 
the shops. The latter has a greenish colour, a strong, peculiar, 
heavy odour, and a bitter, nauseous, resinous taste. Its vir- 
tues depends on a volatile oil, which is officinal. 

Physiological Effects. — Savine is a local irritant. Taken 
internally, in medicinal doses, it stimulates the circulation and 
secretions, with a very decided action on the uterus. In large 
doses, it will cause vomiting, purging, and other symptoms of 
gastro-intestinal inflammation ; and fatal results have some- 
times occurred from its use to provoke premature labour. 

Medicinal Uses. — Savine is employed internally, almost ex- 
clusively as an emmenagogue, and is considered one of the best 
medicines that can be used to stimulate the action of the ute- 
rine vessels. Pereira pronounces it " the most certain and 
powerful emmenagogue of the whole Materia Medica." It has 
also been recommended in chronic rheumatism, and as an an- 
thelmintic. Topically, it is used to keep up the discharge from 
blisters, to destroy warts, &c. Dose, in powder, gr. v-x; but 
it loses much of its oil by drying ; of the fluid extract, the dose 
is Tt|y-x. Oeratum Sabinw (three parts of fluid extract added 
to twelve parts of resin cerate) is used to make perpetual 
blisters. 

Oleum Sabln^e (Oil of Savine) is the preparation princi- 
pally used internally. Dose, gtt. v-x. 

Ruta (Rue). The leaves of Ruta graveolens (Nat. Ord. 
Rutacese), a perennial European plant, are ranked among em- 
menagogues, and are used, popularly, to provoke abortion. 
Dose, gr. xv-xxx, two or three times a day. Of the volatile 
oil, the dose is gtt. ij-v. 



284 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Rubia [Madder). The root of Rubia tinctorum, or Dyer's 
Madder {Nat. Ord. Rubiacese), a European plant, is occasion- 
ally employed as an emmenagogue. Dose 5ss, three or four 
times a day. 

CLASS III.— HEMATICS. 
ORDER I. — MIMATINICS. 

This order (from aijuartva, the red colouring matter of the 
blood), includes only the Preparations of Iron, or Chaly- 
beates. The chalybeates increase the number of blood-cor- 
puscles, or the amount of hsematin in the blood, and are em- 
ployed therapeutically in diseases dependent on a deficiency of 
these elements. They belong eminently to hcematics (or medi- 
cines which occasion changes in the condition of the blood) ; 
but, as they possess also general and local tonic effects, inde- 
pendent of their action on the ' blood, they have been classed 
and treated of among the mineral tonics (see p. 126). 

ORDER II. — ALTERATIVES. 

Alteratives may be defined to be medicines, which produce 
such a modification of the tissues, as enables the vital principle 
to restore healthy action, in morbid conditions of the system. 
Their effects are chiefly owing to a correcting influence on the 
quality of the circulating fluid. Thus, in inflammations, they 
diminish the abnormal quantity of fibrin in the blood, render 
its red corpuscles less disposed to aggregation, and decrease the 
number and adhesiveness of its white globules. In part, also, 
their curative operation is of a substitutive character, by setting 
up an antagonistic action, which takes the place of diseased 
action in the system. 

Under the influence of alteratives, the secretions and exha- 
lations are increased, the textures softened, inflammatory 
action is arrested, and morbid growths and deposits are 
absorbed. The exudation of plastic or coagulable lymph is 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 285 

checked, and, as a consequence, also the formation of false 
membranes. Visceral and glandular enlargements and indura- 
tions are diminished and often disappear, and phlegmonous in- 
flammation, of every kind, is opposed. 

If pushed too far, the alteratives soften and even destroy 
the textures, impoverish the blood so as to interfere with the 
functions of nutrition, and produce a condition of marasmus 
and cachexia. 

Their principal therapeutic employment is as antiphlogistic s 
or resolvents. The mercurials are chiefly employed in acute 
inflammations, — the preparations of iodine, bromine, &c, in 
chronic inflammations. In the treatment of acute inflamma- 
tory affections, mercurials are among the most important of 
our resources — especially in such as have a tendency to termi- 
nate in effusions of coagulable lymph. The iodic and bromic 
preparations are adapted to inflammations of a chronic char- 
acter — and are particularly serviceable in indurations or en- 
largements of glands and organs, and in affections of the bones 
and fibrous tissues. 

By their substitutive or antagonistic action, alteratives are 
highly efficacious in the treatment of many diseases. In this 
way, syphilis is cured by the use of mercury, and intermittent 
fever by the use of arsenious acid. 

Owning to the injurious results which follow the prolonged 
exhibition of alteratives, they are to be administered with 
caution, and their effects closely watched. 

HYDRARGYRI PR.EPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF 

MERCURY. 

Metallic mercury or quicksilver is obtained chiefly from the 
sulphuret [native cinnabar). The chief supply of quicksilver 
was long derived from Spain and Austria, but the markets of 
the United States are now furnished from New Almaden, in 
California. Mercury is an odourless, tasteless, volatile, liquid 
metal, of a whitish colour. Its equivalent number is con- 
sidered by some chemists to be 200, by others, 100 ; the 



286 MATERIA MEDICA. 

nomenclature of its compounds varying with the equivalent 
number adopted. 

While it retains the liquid metallic state, mercury is inert; 
but, when taken internally, it sometimes combines with oxygen 
in the alimentary canal, and thus becomes active. In the state 
of vapour, it frequently proves injurious — in some instances 
exciting salivation, ulceration of the mouth, &c. ; in others in- 
ducing a peculiar affection of the nervous system, termed 
shaking palsy (tremor mercurialis), which is often attended with 
loss of memory, vertigo, and other evidence of cerebral disturb- 
ance, and sometimes terminates fatally. Workmen in quick- 
silver are liable to this affection. It is supposed by some chem- 
ists, that the activity of mercurial emanations is owing to the 
oxidation of the metal, before it is inhaled ; by others, that, in 
the finely-divided state, in which it exists as a vapour, it is in 
itself poisonous. 

All the compounds of mercury possess activity. Some of 
them are violent caustic poisons ; all of them are more or less 
irritant. When the mercurials are taken internally, their 
effects vary with the quantity administered. In small and re- 
peated doses, their influence is first shown in an increase of the 
activity of the seeernents and exhalants. The cutaneous, mu- 
cous, biliary, salivary, urinary, and probably also, the pancrea- 
tic secretions, are all increased in amount, and at the same time 
the absorbent system becomes more active, so that accumula- 
tions of fluids, morbid enlargements, indurations, &c, will 
often disappear. 

Lately, the cholagogue action of mercurials has been denied, 
from the results of experiments upon animals, in whom, after 
the establishment of external fistulous orifices connecting with 
the gall-bladder, the administration of mercurials has been 
found not to increase the amount of the biliary secretion. 
Such experiments, however, involving the severance of numerous 
nerve-branches, leading to and from the liver, can settle noth- 
ing as to an action upon the biliary secretion, which, like 
all other secretory operations, is dependent upon proper inner- 
vation. 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 287 

When mercury is given in larger doses, these effects are more 
intense. The mucous membrane of the mouth and the salivary 
glands not only take on increased secretory action, but become 
irritated and inflamed. The gums first show the mercurial in- 
fluence, and are tender and tumefied ; the whole mouth soon 
becomes sore ; the tongue is swollen ; and the saliva and buccal 
mucus flow abundantly, sometimes to the extent of several 
pints a day. At the same time, the breath acquires a peculiar 
fetidity, and the patient perceives a metallic taste in the mouth. 
The resolvent action of mercury is now still more obvious than 
when its impression is milder, and considerable emaciation 
usually ensues, from the absorption of fat. These effects, 
which are termed sialagogue (from the excessive flow of saliva), 
are commonly produced for the cure of diseases, and, as a gen- 
eral rule, gradually subside, leaving the health unimpaired. 
When, however, the use of mercury is pushed too far, or it is 
administered to persons peculiarly susceptible of its action, a 
train of very serious symptoms ensues — as excessive salivation, 
ulceration of the mouth, sloughing of the gums, loosening of 
the teeth, and occasionally, necrosis of the alveolar processes. 
A peculiar febrile condition, called mercurial fever, diarrhoea, 
skin diseases, neuralgia, rheumatism, disorder of the nervous 
system, and marasmus, are other symptoms which are fre- 
quently noticed after the abuse of mercury. 

After its absorption, mercury produces several important 
changes in the quality of the blood. Immediately upon the 
establishment of salivation, the blood exhibits an inflammatory 
crust; but, at a later period, it loses colour, consistence, and 
coagulability, and the proportion of fibrin to serum becomes 
diminished. This antiplastic action on the blood renders mer- 
curials valuable as antiphologistic remedies. 

Medicinal Uses. — Liquid metallic mercury was formerly ad- 
ministered to remove mechanical obstructions of the bowels, 
but its use has been abandoned. The preparations of mercury 
are employed therapeutically with various objects. 

1. As indirect tonics and cholagogues, — with a view to their 
action on the secretions, — in dyspepsia and constipation, accom- 



288 MATEEIA MEDICA. 

parried with torpor of the liver, in gout, rheumatism, chronic skin 
diseases, &c. Blue pill, mercury with chalk, and calomel, are 
employed with this view; the two former are preferred as least 
irritating. 

2. As sialagogues. The chief value of mercurials is shown 
when a full impression is made on the system, as evidenced by 
salivation. This condition is usually established by the internal 
exhibition of mercurials, but it may also be produced by fric- 
tion or hj fumigation. In putting the system under the influ- 
ence of mercury, it is not necessary to excite a high degree of 
ptyalism, though in chronic diseases, it is often proper to keep 
up the effect for some time. During the maintenance of ptyal- 
ism, the patient should use warm clothing, avoid exposure to 
cold, and take light and nourishing food. If excessive dis- 
charge or ulceration occur, astringent gargles, as brandy and 
water, solutions of chlorinated soda or lime, alum, &c, maybe 
employed. In cases of sloughing sores, nitrate of silver or the 
mineral acids should be applied. Gastro-enteric irritation is to 
be treated with laxatives and opiates. The mercurial cachexia 
requires change of air, generous diet, tonics, &c. When the 
system is contaminated with mercury, it may be eliminated by 
the use of iodide of potassium, which forms soluble compounds 
with the mercury retained in the economy. 

As sialagogues, mercurials are chiefly employed in inflam- 
mations, dysentery, cholera, dropsies, and syphilis. It is in 
inflammations that the value of mercurials is most conspicuous. 
After depletion, the mercurial preparations, from their anti- 
plastic action on the blood, are probably the most efficacious 
means at our command for the relief of internal inflammations. 
They are most useful in inflammations of serous tissues, especi- 
ally where these are connected with the exudation of coagulable 
lymph, and also where there is a tendency to the formation of 
false membrane, as in plastic croup. In scrofulous, malignant, 
or gangrenous inflammations, mercury is objectionable. In 
dysentery and cholera, mercurials are highly valuable remedies, 
and enter into nearly all the varieties of treatment adopted in 
these diseases. In syphilitic diseases mercury has long been 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 289 

regarded as the only reliable anti-syphilitic agent. It has no 
direct curative influence on the primary symptoms; but, after 
the system has been contaminated with the syphilitic virus, 
mercury is the most certain and rapid means of eradicating it. 
In hepatic and inflammatory dropsies, mercurials are employed 
with advantage, with a view to their action both on the secre- 
tions and absorbents. Where much debility exists, however, 
and in granular disease of the kidneys, mercurials are objec- 
tionable. The preparations of mercury have been exhibited as 
sialagogues in many other diseases, as paralysis, colica pic- 
tonum, rheumatism, chronic visceral diseases, particularly of 
the lungs and liver, &c. They must be always considered as 
contra-indicated in scrofulous or tuberculous subjects, in cases 
of malignant disease, in extensive suppuration, marasmus, 
Bright's disease of the kidneys, &c. 

Blue pill and calomel are the sialagogues principally resorted 
to; but other preparations, as the iodides, are employed in 
syphilis. In administering mercurials, for their sialagogue 
action, we sometimes observe a cumulative effect: they may be 
exhibited, particularly to children, for some time without re- 
sult, when suddenly the most violent symptoms of mercurial 
saturation will be developed. 

3. As purgatives. The employment of calomel, blue pill, 
and mercury with chalk, as cathartics and anthelmintics, has 
been previously noticed (see p. 245). 

The following are the preparations of mercury which are 
employed medicinally : 

1. Metallic Mercury. When intimately mixed with pul- 
verulent or fatty bodies, mercury loses its liquid character — is 
said to be hilled, extinguished, or mortified — and acquires 
medicinal activity. Its activity is probably owing to its reduc- 
tion to a state of minute division, which enables it to enter into 
combinations in the stomach. The officinal preparations of 
metallic mercury are : Pilulw Hydrargyri {Pills of Mercury), 
Unguentum Hydrargyri {Mercurial Ointment), PJmplastrum 
Hydrargyri {Mercurial Plaster), Hydrargyrum cum Cretd 
{Mercury with Chalk). 

19 



290 MATERIA MEDICA. 

2. Oxides. — Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum (Black Oxide 
of Mercury), Hydrargyri Oxidum Flavum (Yelloiv Oxide of 
Mercury), Hydrargyri Oxidum Rubrum (Red Oxide of Mer- 
cury). 

3. Chlorides. — Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite (Mild Chlo- 
ride of Mercury, or Calomel), Hydrargyri Chloridum Corrosi- 
vum (Corrosive Chloride of Mercury, or Corrosive Subli- 
mate). 

4. Iodides. — Hydrargyri lodidum Viride (Green Iodide 
of Mercury), Hydrargyri lodidum Rubrum (Red Iodide of 
Mercury). 

5. Hydrargyri Cyanidum (Cyanide of Mercury). 

6. Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum (Ammoniated Mercury.) 

7. Hydrargyri Sulphas Flava (Yelloiv Sidphate of Mer- 
cury). 

8. Hydrargyri Sulphur etum Rubrum (Red Sidphuret of 
Mercury). 

9. Nitrates. — Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis (Ointment 
of Nitrate of Mercury), Liquor Hydrargyri Nitratis (Solution 
of Nitrate of Mercury). 

PiLULiE Hydrargyri (Pills of Mercury). This preparation, 
generally known as Blue Pill, is made by rubbing mercury (a 
troyounce), with confection of rose (a troyounce and a half), till 
all the globules disappear ; then adding powdered liquorice root 
(half a troyounce), and beating the whole into a mass. The 
trituration is now generally effected by machinery — usually by 
steam power. It is a soft, dark blue mass, of a convenient 
consistence for making into pills. The mercury, is in a state 
of minute division, and is chemically unaltered, though, per- 
haps, a very small portion of it is in a state of oxidation. 
Three grains of the pilular mass contain one grain of mercury. 
The preparation changes colour from being kept, becoming of 
an olive and even reddish tint, in consequence of the further 
oxidation of the metal. As it is often adulterated, it is im- 
portant that it should be purchased of a reliable house. 

Effects and Uses. — In full doses (gr. v-xv), blue pill acts as 
a laxative; when given for this purpose, it is usually followed 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 291 

in a few hours by a saline cathartic. In doses of gr. i-ij-iij, 
repeated at proper intervals, it is employed as an alterative or 
sialagogue, and is the favourite preparation for exciting saliva- 
tion in chronic affections. When it moves the bowels, opium 
is combined with it. It may be pleasantly given suspended in 
mucilage or syrup. 

Unguenttjm Hydrargyri (Mercurial Ointment) is made by 
rubbing two parts of mercury with one part of suet and lard 
each, until the globules disappear. It is an unctuous, fatty 
body, of a bluish-gray colour, consisting of equal weights of 
fatty matter, and finely divided mercury. A very small portion 
of protoxide is, perhaps, present, and, as the ointment becomes 
darker by age, a further oxidation of the mercury probably 
takes place. 

Effects and Uses. — Mercurial ointment, when either swal- 
lowed or rubbed into the integuments, procraces the constitu- 
tional effects of mercury ; locally, it has but little irritant 
effect. It is scarcely ever used internally in the United States 
or Great Britain, though, in France, it is highly esteemed as a 
sialagogue, in the dose of gr. ij, repeated. Externally, it is 
used to mercurialize the system by friction, or applied to 
blistered surfaces ; to disperse non-malignant tumours ; as a 
dressing to syphilitic sores ; to destroy pediculi ; and to prevent 
suppuration and pitting in small-pox. 

Emplastrum Hydrargyri (Mercurial Plaster), is made by 
rubbing 6 troyounces of mercury with 2 troyounces of olive oil 
and resin each, previously melted together, till the globules dis- 
appear ; and then adding 12 troyounces of melted lead plaster. 
It is used as a discutient of venereal and other enlargements, 
&c, and is applied to the side in chronic hepatitis ; it may in- 
duce salivation. The plaster of ammoniac ivitli mercury (em- 
plastrum ammoniaci cum hydrargyro), is made by mixing with 
heat 60 grains of olive oil with 8 grains of sublimed sulphur, 
then adding 3 troyounces of mercury, and to this mixture 
adding 12 troyounces of ammoniac, previously boiled with a 
little water, and strained ; it is more stimulating than the 
foregoing. 



292 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Hydrargyrum cum Creta (Mercury with Chalk), is pre- 
pared by rubbing three parts of mercury with five parts of 
prepared chalk, till all the globules disappear. It is a grayish 
powder, containing mercury chiefly in a state of minute division. 
In full doses, it is a gentle laxative, milder even than blue pill ; 
in smaller doses, it is an excellent alterative ; and the chalk 
renders it antacid. It is chiefly employed as an alterative in 
infantile cases. Dose, for adults, gr. v-xx ; for children, gr. 
ij or iij to gr. viij or x, in powder, and not in pills, as in the 
latter form the mercury becomes squeezed out of the chalk. 

Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum (Black Oxide of Mercury). 
This preparation, although discarded from the Pharmacopoeia, 
has still claims to notice. It is obtained by agitating calomel 
(protochloride of mercury) in a solution of potass a; chloride 
of potassium is formed in solution, and protoxide of mercury 
(one equivalent of oxygen and one equivalent of mercury) (Hg 
0), precipitates. As first prepared, it is a greenish-black 
powder ; but, on exposure to light or heat, it is converted into 
a mixture of metallic mercury and deutoxide, and becomes 
olive-coloured. It is odourless, tasteless, insoluble in water, 
but soluble in nitric and acetic acids. Its effects are alterative, 
sialagogue, and purgative, and it is one of the least irritating 
of the mercurial preparations — but it is little used internally, 
on account of the uncertainty of its composition. Dose, gr. \ 
to gr. i-ij, in pill. Externally, it has been employed as a 
fumigating agent ; also, as an application to chancres and 
other sores, suspended in a weak solution of chloride of cal- 
cium, under the name of black wash (made extemporaneously 
by adding calomel 5j to solution of lime Oj). 

Hydrargyri Oxidum Rubrum (Red Oxide of Mercury). 
This is the deutoxide or peroxide of mercury (consisting of one 
equivalent of metal and two equivalents of oxygen), (Hg0 2 ). 
It is usually made by dissolving mercury in diluted nitric acid, 
with a gentle heat, by which nitrate of the deutoxide of mer- 
cury is formed ; and the nitric acid is afterwards decomposed 
and driven off by calcination. The deutoxide of mercury, 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 293 

which is commonly called red precipitate, occurs in small, shin- 
ing scales, of a brilliant red colour, with a shade of orange. It 
has an acrid taste, and is nearly insoluble in water. Its effects 
are those of a powerful irritant, and, when taken internally, 
even in small doses, it excites vomiting and purging — in large 
doses, gastro-enteritis. It is rarely or never used internally, 
(dose, gr. y^-J) ; externally, it is applied as an escharotic, 
either in powder or ointment, to chancres, indolent ulcers, &c. 
Unguentum hydrargyri oxidi rubri {ointment of red oxide of 
mercury), consists of one part of red oxide mixed with seven 
parts of ointment : it is a very useful stimulating ointment in 
indolent ulcers, porrigo, ophthalmia, &c. 

Hydrargyri Oxidum Flavum ( Yelloio Oxide of Mercury), 
is made by mixing a solution of corrosive sublimate with solu- 
tion of potassa ; chloride of calcium is formed in solution and 
the deutoxide of mercury (Hg0 2 ) is precipitated as an orange- 
yellow powder, which, on being heated, assumes a red colour. 
It is without odour, of an acrid taste, is very slightly soluble in 
water, and is insoluble in cold alcohol and ether. This prepa- 
ration has been recently introduced into the Pharmacopoeia, and 
is now preferred for some purposes to the red oxide, owing to 
its greater purity, and especially to its occurring in the form of 
a completely amorphous powder, exhibiting no evidence of crys- 
talline particles, even under the microscope. This gives it a 
superiority, as a local application to the conjunctiva in diseases 
of the eye, over the red oxide, which, from the crystalline char- 
acter of its particles, causes more or less irritation. Unguen- 
tum hydrargyri oxidi flavi {ointment of yellow oxide of mercury), 
consists of one part of yellow oxide mixed with seven parts of 
ointment. Yellow wash (a favourite application to phagedoenic 
venereal ulcers), consists of the yellow oxide of mercury sus- 
pended in a weak solution of chloride of calcium, and is made 
by adding half a drachm of corrosive sublimate to a pint of 
solution of lime. 

Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite {Mild Chloride of Mer- 
cury). This preparation, well known as calomel, consists of 



2T94 MATERIA MEDICA. 

one equivalent of chlorine and of mercury, each, and is a pro- 
tochloride of mercury (HgCl). It is made by subliming a 
mixture of protosulphate of mercury and chloride of sodium 
(common salt); a double decomposition takes place, by which 
chloride of mercury and sulphate of sodium are formed. The 
protosulphate of mercury is previously obtained by boiling 
mercury in sulphuric acid, and afterwards triturating the 
resulting bisulphate of the deutoxide with mercury. Calomel, 
as thus procured in mass, is liable to contain a little corrosive 
sublimate. It should be reduced to powder, and washed 
repeatedly with boiling distilled water, until the absence of a 
white precipitate with ammonia shows that the corrosive subli- 
mate has been removed. With a view of obtaining calomel in a 
state of very minute division, its vapour is condensed in a receiv- 
ing vessel filled with steam, whereby it takes the form of a very 
fine powder, and is perfectly free from corrosive sublimate. 
The calomel thus prepared (known as Jewell's or HoivaroVs 
calomel) is finer and more active than can be obtained by levi- 
gation and elutriation. 

Calomel, as usually manufactured by sublimation, is in the 
form of white, fibrous, crystalline cakes. It may be obtained 
in the shape of quadrangular, prismatic crystals. As found in 
the shops, it is a light-buff or ivory-coloured powder, tasteless, 
inodorous, insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether, unalterable in 
the air, but blackening by long exposure to light. It should 
be kept in bottles painted black or covered with black paper. 
Jewells calomel is a perfectly white powder. When pure, calo- 
mel is completely vaporizable by heat : it strikes a black 
colour, free from reddish tinge, with solutions of the fixed 
alkalies; and should not, when digested with water, form a 
white precipitate with ammonia, unless it contain corrosive 
sublimate. 

Incompatibles. — The alkalies, alkaline earths, alkaline car- 
bonates, soaps, and hydrosulphates, are incompatible with calo- 
mel. Nitro-muriatic acid should not be prescribed with it, for 
fear of generating corrosive sublimate. Preparations contain- 
ing hydrocyanic acid, the chlorides of ammonium, sodium, and 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 295 

potassium, produce the same change. It is asserted that calo- 
mel is converted into corrosive sublimate in the stomach by the 
muriatic acid which it encounters, but there are many reasons 
for rejecting this hypothesis. 

Effects and Uses. — Calomel produces the effects of the mer- 
curials already described, and, in purgative doses, proves also a 
valuable anthelmintic. From the certainty and mildness of its 
operation, it is more employed than any of the other prepara- 
tions of mercury, although blue pill, which if less certain, is 
milder, is preferred under some circumstances. Calomel has 
been frequently taken in very large doses, without any bad 
effects; but cases are recorded in which, in excessive quantity, 
it has acted as an irritant poison. As a purgative, it is em- 
ployed in doses of gr. vi-xij, in fevers, hepatitis, colica picto- 
num, dysentery, and many other affections ; as an anthelmintic, 
in the same doses ; and, in both cases, it is to be followed in a 
few hours by a saline draught, castor oil, or senna. Calomel 
is often given in combination with other cathartics, as jalap, 
rhubarb, aloes, scammony, colocynth, and gamboge. In very 
large doses, as 3j to 5ss, or even more, it is said to possess 
sedative powers, and has been recommended in dysentery, 
cholera, puerperal fever, &c. As an antiphlogistic, in inflam- 
matory cases, calomel is given in doses of gr. J to gr. j, every 
one, two, or three hours; as an eccritic, in these doses, twice or 
thrice a day. In the dose of gr. j, frequently repeated, it is 
one of the best means of checking obstinate vomiting. It is 
frequently added to other medicines to increase their action on 
the secretions, as diuretics, an timonials, &c. To children, calo- 
mel may be given in proportionally larger doses than to adults, 
and it rarely salivates them. In infantile diarrhoea, very 
minute doses of calomel, as gr. J, y 1 ^, T ] g, every hour or two, 
are highly efficacious. Externally, calomel is applied in powder, 
as an errhine, in amaurosis ; and, made into an ointment (a 
drachm to a troyounce of lard), it is an excellent application 
in a variety of cutaneous affections. 

Hydrargyri Chloridum Coe/rosivum [Corrosive Chloride 
of Mercury). This is the bichloride of mercury, commonly 



296 MATERIA MEDICA. 

called corrosive sublimate, consisting of two equivalents of chlo- 
rine and one equivalent of mercury (HgCl 2 ). It is made by 
subliming a mixture of chloride of sodium and bisulphate of 
the deutoxide of mercury (which is previously obtained by 
boiling mercury with sulphuric acid) ; double decomposition 
takes place, resulting in the formation of bichloride of mercury 
and sulphate of sodium. Corrosive sublimate occurs in the 
form of white, semi-transparent, crystalline masses, permanent 
in the air, inodorous, and of an acrid, styptic taste. It is 
tolerably soluble in cold water, and very soluble in boiling 
water, alcohol, ether, and the mineral acids. The aqueous 
solution, when exposed to light, is decomposed, with the precipi- 
tation of calomel and evolution of hydrochloric acid. It is in- 
compatible with many of the metals, the alkalies and their car- 
bonates, soap, lime-water, tartar emetic, nitrate of silver, the 
acetates of lead, the sulphurets and iodides of potassium and 
sodium, all the hydrosulphates, syrup of sarsaparilla, and with 
many vegetable substances (as the bitters) and albuminous 
liquids (as milk, &c.) The tests for detecting corrosive subli- 
mate as a poison are, in the order of their delicacy, ferrocya- 
nide of potassium, lime-water, carbonate of potassium, iodide 
of potassium, ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen, and protochlo- 
ride of tin. 

Physiological Effects. — In medicinal doses as gr. y'g-J, cor- 
rosive sublimate occasions a beneficial alterative eifect, without 
any obvious activity. Its continued use may cause salivation, 
but it has less tendency to produce this result than any other 
preparation of mercury. Medicinal doses, if too large or too 
long continued, frequently produce gastro-enteric symptoms 
and the constitutional effects of mercury. In excessive doses, 
corrosiye sublimate is a violent caustic poison, from its affinity 
for albumen, fibrin, and other constituents of the tissues. It 
produces the most intense gastro-enteritis, sometimes followed 
by the ordinary constitutional effects of mercury. The best 
antidote is albumen (in the form of white of eggs) ; or, if this is 
not attainable, gluten (in wheat flour), or casein (in milk), may be 
substituted. The protosulphuret of iron (if given immediately), 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 297 

and a mixture of iron filings (two parts) with gold dust (one 
part), also decomposes corrosive sublimate. In case of poison- 
ing, the stomach must be evacuated as soon as possible, and 
the after treatment consists in the free use of demulcents, 
opiates, and topical depletion. 

Medicinal Uses. — Corrosive sublimate is chiefly used as an 
alterative in secondary syphilis, both by the stomach and by 
hypodermic injection ; also in cutaneous and rheumatic affections, 
and as a sorbefacient in old dropsies; it is a good remedy, too, 
in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery with slimy and bloody dis- 
charges. Dose, gr. y^-J, three or four times a day, in pill or 
solution. Externally, it may be used as a caustic; a weak sor 
lution (gr. J-i-ij to water fSj) is much employed as a wash to 
ulcers, an injection in gleet, a collyrium, &c. An ointment (gr. 
j-i-ij to lard Sj), is a good application in porrigo, tinea, eczema, 
pityriasis, and skin diseases generally of parasitic origin. 

Hydrargyri Iodidum Viride [Green Iodide of Mercury), 
is made by rubbing mercury and iodine together, with the addi- 
tion of a little alcohol. It is a protiodide, consisting of one 
equivalent of iodine and mercury each (Hgl), and is a greenish- 
yellow powder, insoluble in water and alcohol, but soluble in 
ether. By exposure to light it is partially decomposed, and 
becomes of a dark-olive colour. 

Effects and Uses. — This mercurial exercises a specific influ- 
ence over the lymphatic and glandular systems, and is employed 
in syphilis and scrofula occurring in the same individual. Dose, 
gr. j, gradually increased to gr. iij or iv; it should not be given 
with iodide of potassium, which decomposes it into red iodide 
and metallic mercury. Externally, it is applied, in the form 
of ointment, to syphilitic ulcers, &c. 

Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum (Bed Iodide of Mercury), 
is the biniodide, consisting of one equivalent of mercury and 
two equivalents of iodine (Hgl 2 ). It is made by mixing solu- 
tions of iodide of potassium and bichloride of mercury, from 
which a double decomposition ensues, resulting in the formation 
of chloride of potassium in solution, and* biniodide of mercury 



298 MATERIA MEDICA. 

is precipitated. It is a scarlet-red powder, which becomes 
yellow when heated, insoluble in water, but soluble in boiling 
alcohol and solutions of iodide of potassium, chloride of sodium, 
&c. It is a powerful irritant and caustic, and is employed in 
the same cases as the protiodide, though much more energetic. 
Dose, gr. y^, gradually increased to gr. J, in pill or alcoholic 
solution; or, still better, dissolved in a solution of iodide of 
potassium. Externally, it is much used in the form of oint- 
ment {unguentum hydrargyri iodidi rubri), (16 grains mixed with 
a troyounce of ointment). 

Hydrargyri Cyanidum {Cyanide of Mercury). This salt is 
made by adding a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium to sul- 
phuric acid, by which hydrocyanic acid is produced, and this, 
being received in a vessel containing water and red oxide of 
mercury, generates water and bicyanide of mercury (HgCy 2 ). 
It is usually found in the form of permanent, prismatic, white, 
and opaque crystals, of a disagreeable styptic taste, soluble in 
water, but not in alcohol. It is an active poison, and is used 
as an antisyphilitic remedy, as a substitute for corrosive subli- 
mate, over which it has the advantage of not producing epigas- 
tric pain, and not being decomposed by alkalies and organic 
substances. Dose, gr. Jg to J-. 

Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum {Ammoniated Mercury). This 
preparation, commonly called white precipitate, is made by 
precipitating a solution of bichloride of mercury by ammonia; 
chloride of ammonium is formed in solution, and ammoniated 
mercury is thrown down. It consists of one equivalent of 
bichloride of mercury, and one equivalent of a compound con- 
sisting of one equivalent of mercury combined with two equiva- 
lents of amidogen (or ammonia deprived of one equivalent of 
hydrogen). In symbols the reaction may be thus expressed : 
4NH 3 +2HgCl 2 =Hg,2NH 2 +HgCl 2 +2(NH s ,HC]). It is a per- 
fectly white powder, insoluble in water and alcohol, decomposed 
by boiling water, inodorous, and has an earthy, afterwards me- 
tallic taste. It is largely adulterated, chiefly with sulphate of 
calcium. Its effects are poisonous, but it is used only as an ex- 



PREPARATIONS OF MERCURY. 299 

ternal application, in the form of ointment (unguentum hydrar- 
gyri ammoniati, one part of aurmoniated mercury to twelve 
parts of ointment), to cutaneous eruptions, and to destroy pedi- 
culi. Four grains, mixed with half an ounce of powdered sugar, 
make a good snuff-pow T der in ozoena. 

Hydrargyri Sulphas Flava (Yelloiv Sulphate of 3fer- 
cury). This salt, commonly called turpeth mineral, is made by 
throwing the bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury (as ob- 
tained from the action of sulphuric acid on mercury), into boil- 
ing water ; the bisulphate is instantly decomposed, and a basic 
sesquisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury — turpeth mineral — ; 
(3Hg0 2 ,2S0 3 ), is precipitated. It is an inodorous, lemon- 
yellow powder, entirely dissipated by heat, of a rather acrid 
taste, and sparingly soluble in water. It has been employed as 
an alterative, in doses of gr. \-\ ; as an emetic, in croup and 
chronic enlargement of the testis, in doses of gr. ij-v ; and as 
an errhine, in chronic ophthalmia and diseases of the head. In 
an overdose, it is poisonous, 5j having proved fatal. 

Hydrargyri Sulphuretum Rubrum (Bed Sulphuret of 
Mercury), or Cinnabar (which is found as a native combina- 
tion), is manufactured by subliming a mixture of one part of 
sublimed sulphur and five parts of mercury. It consists of one 
equivalent of mercury and two equivalents of sulphur (HgS 2 ), 
and occurs in the form of heavy, brilliant, deep-red, crystalline 
masses, which are inodorous, tasteless, entirely volatilizable by 
heat, and insoluble in water and alcohol. It is not employed 
internally, but is used in the way of fumigation, in venereal 
ulcers of the throat and nose ; 5ss may be thrown on a red-hot 
iron and inhaled ; but the black oxide is a better substance for 
mercurial fumigation. Cinnabar is used as a paint, under the 
name of vermilion. 

Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis (Ointment of Nitrate of 
Mercury). The nitrate of mercury is employed chiefly in the 
form of ointment. This preparation, known as citrine oint- 



300 MATERIA MEDICA. 

merit, is made by dissolving a troyounce and a half of mercury 
in 3| troyounces of nitric acid, and adding the solution to 16 
troyounces of lard melted at 200°, stirring until effervescence 
ceases. The chemical changes which result here are not pre- 
cisely known ; but a subnitrate of the deutoxide of mercury is 
probably formed, with fatty acids and elaidin. Citrine oint- 
ment has a fine yellow colour and unctuous consistence ; but, if 
not very carefully made, it becomes greenish, hard, and friable. 
It is an excellent stimulant and alterative application, much 
employed in porrigo, psoriasis, crusta lactea, impetigo, psoroph- 
thalmia, and a wide range of ulcerated and eruptive affections. 
It is best to dilute it, at first, with lard. 

Liquor Hydrargyri Nitratis (Solution of Nitrate of 
Mercury) (Hg0 2 ,2N0 5 ), is made by dissolving 3 troyounces of 
mercury in 5 troyounces of nitric acid, mixed with 6 fluidrachms 
of distilled water; and, when reddish vapours cease to arise, evapo- 
rating the liquid to 7J- troyounces ; it is now also prepared by 
dissolving 3 troyounces and 120 grains of red oxide of mercury 
in a mixture of 3 troyounces and 300 grains of nitric acid in 
6 fluidrachms of distilled water. It is a dense, transparent, 
nearly colourless liquid (sp. gr. 2.165), of a strongly acid 
taste, and is employed as a caustic application in hospital gan- 
grene, venereal and malignant ulcers, and, diluted, in cutaneous 
affections. 

IODINIUM — IODINE. 

Iodine is an elementary non-metallic substance, found in the 
vegetable, animal, and mineral kingdoms of nature, — as marine 
plants, oysters, sponges, mineral springs, &c. It is chiefly 
manufactured from help (the impure soda obtained from the 
incineration of sea-weeds), in which it exists as an iodide of 
sodium, by the action of sulphuric acid and deutoxide of man- 
ganese. It occurs in crystalline scales, of a bluish-black colour 
and metallic lustre, of a strong, peculiar odour, and a hot, acrid 
taste. It is very volatile — evaporating even at common tern- 



IODINE. 301 

peratures — is freely soluble in alcohol and ether, and but very 
slightly soluble in water. Its solubility in water is very much 
increased by the addition of certain salts, as the iodide of po- 
tassium, chloride of sodium, &c. When heated, its vapour has 
a rich violet colour, whence its name (from i&dw, violet). Iodine 
may be detected in very minute quantity by starch, which pro- 
duces with it a deep-blue colour ; if in combination, the iodine 
must be first freed with a little nitric acid, or still better with 
chromic acid (which may be evolved by the addition of a single 
drop of very dilute solution of bichromate of potassium, when 
starch and nitric acid have been employed ineffectually). Chlo- 
roform has also been proposed as a test. 

Physiological Effects. — Iodine acts locally as an irritant ; 
when applied to the skin it stains it yellow, and causes itching, 
redness, and desquamation : and, when inhaled in the form of 
vapour, it excites cough and heat in the air-passages. Taken 
internally, in medicinal doses, it usually at first excites the appe- 
tite and strengthens the digestion, though it soon irritates the 
stomach. It is probably absorbed in the upper part of the 
small intestines, by being dissolved in the alkaline fluids of this 
canal, and, after absorption, it frequently produces a remedial 
alterative and resolvent effect, without any obvious disturbance 
of the functions. Usually, patients become thin under its use, 
though sometimes its alterative action on the nutrition produces 
embonpoint. It excites the secretions generally, increasing the 
flow of urine, slightly relaxing the bowels, often producing a 
marked irritant effect on the respiratory mucous membrane and 
salivary glands, and is readily and rapidly eliminated from the 
blood, chiefly in the urine. If administered in too large doses, 
or to persons of irritable stomach, it produces subacute gastro- 
enteritis ; and, when continued for a long time, it will produce 
gastro-enteric symptoms — headache, giddiness, and other evi- 
dences of cerebro-spinal disturbance — marasmus — sometimes 
discoloration of the skin — occasionally salivation — and fre- 
quently a wasting of the mammas and testicles. This train of 
symptoms is termed iodism. In excessive doses, it may act as 
an irritant poison, and has even produced death : but such a re- 



302 MATERIA MEDICA. 

suit is rare. Enormous quantities have been taken with very 
slight effects. The antidote is starch. The absorption of iodine 
is shown by its presence in the blood and various secretions. 

31edicinal Uses. — Iodine is a most valuable resolvent remedy, 
in chronic visceral and glandular enlargements, indurations, 
thickening of membranes, tumours, &c. It is chiefly employed 
in bronchocele and scrofula, but it is useful in every variety of 
chronic tumour and enlargement ; also as an alterative in 
secondary syphilis and other chronic affections ; and as an em- 
menagogue. Its vapour has been inhaled with benefit in chronic 
bronchitis and phthisis. It is a valuable topical remedy and is 
applied in the form of tincture, with the greatest advantage to 
enlarged glands (especially when scrofulous), in the various cu- 
taneous affections, lupus, erysipelas, rheumatism, gout, phleg- 
mons, carbuncles, wounds, diseases of joints, poisoned parts, to 
prevent pitting in smallpox, as a counter-irritant to the chest in 
phthisis, chronic bronchitis, and pleurisy, as an injection in hy- 
drocele, in encysted bronchocele, and even into the pleural 
cavity in chronic pleurisy, &c, &c. Iodine ranks also among 
the best of the disinfectants, being very available from the ease 
of its application as well as its ready portability. 

Administration. — Iodine is rarely exhibited alone, but usually 
in conjunction with iodide of potassium (see p. 303). To avoid 
gastric irritation, it is best given* after a meal, particularly 
when amylaceous substances have been taken, as it forms with 
them iodide of starch. Dose, gr. J-J, two or three times daily. 
Liquor Iodinii Compositus — Compound Solution of Iodine — 
(Iodine 5vj, Iodide of potassium a troyounce and a half, dis- 
tilled water Oj), is the usual preparation in which iodine is ad- 
ministered internally ; dose, six drops, three times a day, in 
sweetened water, and gradually increased. The tincture (tinc- 
tura iodinii) (a troyounce to alcohol Oj), is of a deep-brown 
colour,, and undergoes a gradual change, when kept long ; water 
precipitates the iodine from it, hence it is little employed inter- 
nally ; dose, gtt. x-xx, repeated and increased. Externally, it 
is extensively applied to erysipelatous and poisoned parts, 
chilblains, in cutaneous affections, &c, &c. The compound 



IODIDE OF POTASSIUM. 303 

tincture (tinctura iodinii composita), (iodine half a troyounce, 
iodide of potassium a troyounce, alcohol Oj), has the advan- 
tage over the tincture, that it may be diluted with water with- 
out decomposition ; dose, gtt. xv-xxx. Iodine Ointment (un- 
guentwn iodinii) (made with iodine 3j, iodide of potassium gr. 
iv, Avater TT[yj, and lard a troyounce), is employed as a local 
application in goitre, scrofulous tumefactions, &c. ; it does not 
keep well. The compound iodine ointment {unguentum iodinii 
compositum), (iodine 15 grains, iodide of potassium 30 grains, 
water 30 minims, lard a troyounce), is used for the same pur- 
pose, as the preceding ; they both impart an orange colour to 
the skin. Iodine baths have been employed, with iodine and 
iodide of potassium dissolved in water, in a wooden bath-tub, in 
the proportion of iodine gr. iij, and iodide gr. vj, to a gallon of 
water. 

Iodine is employed in medicine, in various chemical combi- 
nations. The iodides of iron, lead and mercury, have been 
noticed. The iodide of starch is highly recommended ; dose, a 
teaspoonful, three times a day, to be increased. The iodide of 
zinc (see p. 139), is employed as a tonic and astringent. The 
iodide of sulphur (sulp>huris iodidum) is prepared by heating 
together 4 parts of iodine and 1 part of sublimed sulphur ; it 
is a grayish-black solid substance, of a radiated crystalline 
appearance, having the smell and taste of iodine, decomposed 
upon exposure to the air and by boiling water and alcohol, 
insoluble in water, but soluble in 60 parts of glycerine ; it is 
used internally in scrofulous and cutaneous affections, in doses 
of gr. J-i, and externally, in tinea capitis, lupus, lepra, &c, 
in the form of ointment {unguentum sulphuris iodidi), (30 
grains to a troyounce of lard). 

*POTASSII IODIDUM — IODIDE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt is prepared by treating an aqueous solution of 
potassa with iodine in slight excess. By this process, a mix- 
ture of iodide of potassium and iodate of potassium is obtained, 
and the iodate is afterwards deoxidized and converted into 



304 MATERIA MEDICA. 

iodide by heat and mixture with powdered charcoal. Iodide 
of potassium consists of one equivalent of iodine and potassium, 
each (KI). It occurs in semi-opaque, white, or transparent 
crystals, permanent in a dry air, rather deliquescent in a moist 
one, of an acrid, saline taste, somewhat like that of common 
salt. It is wholly soluble in water and alcohol, and its aque- 
ous solution dissolves iodine, forming ioduretted iodide of potas- 
sium. It is frequently adulterated with other salts. 

Effects and Uses. — The effects of iodide of potassium are 
analogous to those of iodine, but less energetic. Locally, it 
acts as an irritant, and in large doses, sometimes occasions 
nausea, vomiting, heat of stomach, and purging ; but it may be 
given in larger doses, and for a longer period, than iodine, 
without causing gastro-enteric derangement. It stimulates the 
secretions, particularly those from mucous membranes, and 
very often produces coryza. Its constitutional effects are 
powerfully alterative and resolvent, and it is employed in bron- 
chocele, scrofula, secondary syjihilis, and other chronic diseases, 
particularly those accompanied with enlargements or indura- 
tions. It is a most valuable anti-syphilitic remedy, when the 
bones and fibrous tissues are affected. In chronic rheumatism 
and gout, particularly where the fibrous tissues are attacked, 
it is of great efficacy. As a diuretic in dropsy, it has been 
found useful ; and in spasmodic asthma it often gives great 
relief. As an eliminative antidote, in mercurial and saturnine 
poisoning, its action has been already noticed. It has been 
recommended in hydrocephalus ; and has recently been found 
to exercise a beneficial operation in the treatment of aneurism. 

Administration. — Dose, gr. v-xv, or even more, three times 
a day, in solution. An ointment (5j to lard 5vij, with boiling 
water f5ss) is employed for the same purposes as iodine oint- 
ment, and does not discolour the skin; it is, however, of feebler 
efficacy. 

Ammonii Iodidum — Iodide of Ammonium (NH 4 I) is made 
by the double decomposition of iodide of potassium and sul- 
phate of ammonium in hot aqueo-alcoholic solution. It occurs 



BROMINE. 305 

as a white, granular, very deliquescent salt, becoming yellow- 
ish-brown by exposure, very soluble in water and in alcohol, of 
a taste like that of iodide of potassium, but a little sharper. It 
has been used in the same way as the latter salt. 

Soon Iodidum — Iodide of Sodium may be made by the 
double decomposition of iodide of iron and carbonate of sodium. 
It is a soluble, white, crystalline salt, used to fulfil the same 
indications as iodide of potassium, than which it is said to be 
better borne. It is not officinal. 



IODOFORM UM — IODOFORM. 

Iodoform is obtained by the action of chlorinated lime upon 
a heated alcoholic solution of iodide of potassium. It is a ter- 
iodide of formyl (C 2 HI 3 ), and occurs in the form of small scaly, 
yellow crystals, having a saffron-like odour and sweet taste, in- 
soluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, and 
the fixed and volatile oils. It is devoid of irritant action, and 
produces the constitutional effects of iodine, besides an anodyne 
influence. Large doses produce tetanic convulsions. Dose, 1 
to 3 grains, three times a day in pill. In the form of vapour, 
it possesses anaesthetic properties, but inferior to those of chlo- 
roform. Externally, it has been found a good application to 
chancres and irritable ulcers, as bed sores ; it is used also to 
relieve the pain of cancerous sores, and for these purposes, it 
may be dusted over the ulcerated surface, which is then to be 
dressed with glycerine spread upon lint ; a saturated solution 
of iodoform in chloroform is serviceable in relieving the pain of 
neuralgia and gout ; an iodoform suppository is also useful in 
painful diseases of the rectum and bladder. 



BROMINIUM — BROMINE. 

Bromine is an elementary body, bearing close chemical and 
medicinal affinities to iodine. It is a constituent of sea-water, 
and of many mineral springs. In Europe, it is obtained prin- 

20 



306 MATERIA MEDICA. 

cipally from the mother liquors of the salt mines of Stassfurt, 
in Germany ; in this country, from saline springs in western 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, in which it exists as a 
bromide of magnesium. It is a volatile, dark-red liquid (sp. gr. 
3), of a caustic taste, and a strong, disagreeable smell, sparingly 
soluble in water, more soluble in alcohol, and still more so in 
ether. Its effects on the system have been thought to be analo- 
gous to those of iodine, and it has been employed as an altera- 
tive resolvent in bronchocele, scrofulous tumours, skin diseases, 
&c, particularly in cases in which iodine does not answer, or 
has lost its activity; but bromine and the bromides are now 
known to exert a powerfully tranquillizing influence in various 
forms of irritable action of the nervous centres, as spasmodic dis- 
eases, especially epilepsy, wakefulness, nymphomania, &c. It 
is given in aqueous solution (1 part to 40 parts of distilled 
water), dose, six drops, several times a day ; but it is exhibited 
internally chiefly in the form of the bromides. It is a good 
application in hospital gangrene, and, properly diluted, it is used 
as a wash for ulcers. In overdoses, bromine is an irritant poison, 
and has proved fatal ; ammonia is said to be an antidote. 

Potassii Bromidum (Bromide of Potassium) (KBr), is pre- 
pared by adding a solution of pure carbonate of potassium to a 
solution of bromide of iron. The iron is precipitated, and 
bromide of potassium remains in solution, from which it is 
obtained by evaporation. It occurs as a permanent, colourless, 
anhydrous, cystalline salt, of a pungent, saline taste, very 
soluble in water, and slightly soluble in alcohol. Bromide cf 
potassium has been used as a substitute for the iodide, in bron- 
chocele, scrofula, chronic cutaneous affections, secondary 
syphilis, fibroid tumours of the uterus, &c, but it is inferior in 
these diseases to the iodic salt. It has, however, proved a very 
efficacious remedy in diseases of the nervous centres, as whoop- 
ing-cough, infantile convulsions, hysteria, laryngismus stridulus, 
and especially epilepsy, over which it is believed now to exert 
more control than any other article of the Materia Medica. In 
the insomnia of mania and of mania-a-potu, it is often effica- 
cious ; and it has been found to be the most efficient remedy 



COD-LIVER OIL. 307 

which we possess in allaying venereal excitement, and hence its 
employment in nymphomania, chordee, &c, and as a preventive 
of masturbation, in prisons, barracks, &c. Given, with or 
before opium, it often prevents the unpleasant effects of that 
article. It is used, too, to obtund the sensibility of the fauces, 
before the exhibition of the laryngoscope. Dose, from five to 
ten and even twenty grains, several times a day. 

Ammonii Bromidum (Bromide of Ammonium) (NH 4 Br), 
is prepared by dissolving bromine in water of ammonia, or by 
acting on bromide of iron with carbonate of ammonium. It 
occurs in colourless crystals, which, on exposure to the air, 
gradually become yellowish (in consequence of the liberation of 
hydrobromic acid), has a saline, pungent taste, is very soluble in 
water, and moderately soluble in alcohol. Its effects, uses, and 
doses are analogous to those of bromide of potassium. It is 
also highly recommended in doses of ten or fifteen grains every 
two or three hours in acute rheumatism. 

The Bromide of Sodium (NaBr) has lately been employed 
in preference to the bromide of potassium, as having more 
bromine; and still more recently, the Bromide of Lithium 
(LBr) has been recommended as the most efficacious of the 
bromides. In bromide of potassium there is about 66 per cent. 
of bromine; in bromide of sodium, 78 per cent.; and in bro- 
mide of lithium, nearly 92 per cent. Bromides of iron and 
mercury have been also employed. 



OLEUM MORRHUJ — COD-LIVER OIL. 

This is a fixed oil, obtained from the liver of Gadus 
Morrhua, or the common cod, — a well-known fish of the North- 
ern Atlantic, — and probably, also, from the livers of several 
other species of Gadus. It is prepared by subjecting the livers 
to heat, either in boilers with water, or by means of steam 
externally applied, and afterwards draining off the liquid por- 
tion, from which the oil separates on standing. It is said to 
be sometimes procured also by expression. Three varieties are 



30.8 MATERIA MEDICA. 

known, the white or pale-yelloiv, the brownish-yellow, and the 
dark-brown. They differ chiefly in the mode of preparation- — 
the pale heing prepared from fresh livers, the dark-brown from 
those which are collected at sea and have undergone putrefac- 
tive decomposition, and the brownish-yellow from those in which 
putrefaction has only partially commenced. The pale oil is 
the purest; the dark oil is the most offensive to the taste and 
smell, and the least acceptable to the stomach. 

Cod-liver oil is of the consistence of lamp-oil, and has a pecu- 
liar odour and taste, resembling that of shoe-leather, which is 
usually prepared in the United States with this oil. These sen- 
sible properties are probably the best test of the genuineness 
of the oil, and it should be rejected, if the smell and taste of 
shoe-leather are wanting, or if those of lamp-oil or fish-oil are 
very perceptible. The sp. gr. of the best oil is about 0.917. 
The oil undergoes a gradual change from exposure to the air, 
and should therefore be kept in full and well-stoppered bottles. 
It contains a great variety of chemical constituents, the most 
important of which are fatty acids, several biliary principles, a 
peculiar brown substance called gaduin (which is not, however, 
supposed to be the active ingredient), iodine, chlorine, and traces 
of bromine. 

Cod-liver oil may be distinguished from other oils by the 
agency of sulphuric acid, a drop of which, when added to fresh 
cod-liver oil, on a porcelain plate, causes a centrifugal move- 
ment in the oil, and gives rise to a fine violet colour, soon passing 
into yellowish or brownish-red. This reaction is attributable, 
however, to the bile contained in the oil. By the addition of 
ammonia, lime, or potassa, the peculiar volatile principle, pro- 
phylamia (the odorous principle of pickled herring), is devel- 
oped. 

Physiological Effects. — The prolonged use of cod-liver oil, 
in doses which allow it to be retained by the stomach, produces 
very marked beneficial effects in a wide range of chronic dis- 
eases, dependent on a vitiated condition of the functions of 
digestion, assimilation, and nutrition. Its modus medendi is 
not well understood : some therapeutists believing it to act 



COD-LIVER OIL. 309 

merely as a nutritive agent, valuable from the readiness with 
which it is assimilated — others attributing its curative powers 
to an alterative action from the iodine and bromine, or other 
principles which it contains. Its effects are, however, probably 
due merely to its nutrient action, in supplying a sufficiency of 
molecular base for interstitial growth. The biliary principles 
which it contains promote its absorption and appropriation by 
the system. The most striking feature of its action on the 
economy is increase of weight; and, usually, where it fails to 
increase the weight, it is of little service. It is believed, also, 
to diminish the formation of uric acid in the system, and hence 
may be useful in gout. In large doses, cod-liver oil produces 
nausea and diarrhoea, and these effects occasionally follow the 
use of medicinal doses. 

Medicinal Uses. — Cod-liver oil has long been known as a 
remedy in rheumatic diseases ; and within the last twenty years 
it has come into extensive use, as an alterative in tuberculous 
and scrofulous affections. In the treatment of phthisis pulmo- 
nalis, it is now looked upon, in Great Britain and the United 
States, as superior to any other agent, and as possessing an 
undoubted power of arresting the progress of both the general 
and the local symptoms in this disease. Over the different 
forms of scrofula, it exercises also a very decided control — par- 
ticularly glandular enlargements, ulcers, diseases of the joints 
and spine, ophthalmia, &c. In the various cutaneous affections, 
chronic rheumatism and gout, and the entire circle of chronic 
disorders, in which there is a tendency to marasmus, cod-liver 
oil is now employed. Its peculiar powers and merits require, how- 
ever, to be more fully developed by time. It is contraindicated 
where there is a tendency to congestion or plethora, and its ex- 
hibition should be suspended (temporarily, at least) in the treat- 
ment of phthisis, when intra-thoracic inflammation or hemop- 
tysis is present. Its good effects are most conspicuous, in 
proportion to the youth of the patient. 

Administration. — Dose, a tablespoonful two or three times a 
day ; though, if unacceptable to the stomach, it is best to begin 
with smaller, as teaspoonful doses. The addition of a little 



310 MATERIA MEDICA. 

ether (as from 12 to 20 drops to a teaspoonful of oil) promotes its 
digestion. It must be persevered with for a long time before 
its good effects appear. It is best given in some aromatic 
water, or the froth of porter ; and it may be rendered more 
agreeable to the stomach by combination with one of the mine- 
ral acids. The union of the oil with lime-water, just enough to 
form a soap, often renders it acceptable to delicate stomachs, 
and it may be flavoured with oil of bitter almonds. If it 
produce diarrhoea, astringents should be administered with it. 
It is used as a clyster, in cases of ascarides and lumbricoides ; 
and, externally, in cutaneous affections and opacity of the 
cornea. 

ARSENICI PRiEPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF 

ARSENIC. 

Metallic arsenic is inert, though, when swallowed, it may 
prove powerfully poisonous, by becoming oxidized and con- 
verted into arsenious acid. It is not used in medicine. 

Actdum Arseniosum (Arsenious Acid), sometimes called 
White Arsenic, Oxide of Arsenic, or Arsenic, is obtained prin- 
cipally as a secondary product in the roasting of cobalt ores 
(the arseniurets of cobalt) in Saxony and Bohemia. It is after- 
wards purified by sublimation ; and, when recently prepared, 
occurs in glassy, colourless, transparent masses, of a vitreous 
fracture, which gradually become white and opaque, progres- 
sively from the surface inwards. It is sometimes kept in the 
shops in the form of a fine white powder ; but, in this state, it 
is liable to adulteration with chalk or sulphate of calcium, and it 
should therefore be always purchased in masses. It is entirely 
volatilized by heat, at a temperature not exceeding 400°, has 
no smell, and little or no taste ; is soluble in water (com- 
pletely so in boiling water, and more readily in either, when 
transparent than opaque), and also in alcohol and oils. Its 
chemical composition is one equivalent of arsenic and three 
equivalents of oxygen (As0 3 ). Arsenic acid is composed of 
one equivalent of metal and five equivalents of oxygen (As0 5 ). 



PREPARATIONS OF ARSENIC. 311 

Tests. — Owing to the frequent use of arsenious acid as a 
poison, a knowledge of the means of detecting its presence is of 
great importance. In the solid state, it may be recognized in 
the first place by its volatility ; secondly, when thrown on burn- 
ing charcoal, it is deoxidized, and gives out the garlicky odour 
of metallic arsenic ; and, thirdly, if heated in a glass tube with 
charcoal or black flux, it sublimes and condenses in the form of 
a metallic crust. In aqueous solution, arsenious acid may be 
detected by the following reagents ; hydro sulphuric acid pro- 
duces a lemon or sulphur -yellow tersulphuret of arsenic ; the 
addition first of ammonia and then of nitrate of silver, produces 
a canary '-yellow arsenite of silver ; and the addition of potassa 
and then of sulphate of copper, produces an apple or grass- 
green arsenite of copper ; 100 grains, boiled with dilute muri- 
atic acid, and then treated with hydrosulphuric acid, yield a 
deposit of tersulphuret of arsenic, weighing 124 grains. The 
tersulphuret of arsenic may be reduced, and made to yield 
metallic arsenic, if heated with soda-flux or potash-flux. The 
most delicate test, however, of arsenious acid in solution is that 
of nascent hydrogen, termed Marsh's test. When the acid is 
submitted to the action of nascent hydrogen (evolved by the 
action of diluted sulphuric acid on zinc), it is deoxidized, and 
unites with the hydrogen to form arseniuretted hydrogen gas. 
This gas has a garlicky odour, and is recognized by its burning 
with a bluish-w r hite flame, which deposits on a plate of glass or 
porcelain, held over the jet, a lustrous black spot or mirror of 
arsenic, surrounded by a larger white ring of arsenious acid; 
the metallic spot deposited is distinguishable from antimony, 
obtained by a similar process, by the addition of a drop or two 
of fuming nitric acid, with heat, which converts the arsenic 
into soluble arsenic acid, while antimony would be oxidized into 
insoluble antimonic acid, and also the arsenic can be dissolved by 
a solution of hypochlorite of sodium, which does not affect anti- 
mony. Another test is that of Reinsch, and consists in boiling a 
solution of the acid with muriatic acid and copper-foil or wire, 
when the latter acquires a steel-gray coating of metallic arsenic, 
passing as it increases into black. When arsenious acid is 



312 MATERIA MEDICA. 

dissolved with liquid organic substances, it should first be 
separated from insoluble matters by filtration, and the metallic 
arsenic may be then obtained by Reinsclis process ; and the 
liquid or subliming tests afterwards applied. If the poison be 
mixed with solid organic substances, they should be cut up 
and boiled with water, acidulated with muriatic acid, and the 
solution afterwards filtered, and again boiled, &c. 

Physiological Effects. — Arsenious acid acts locally as an 
escharotic, by destroying the vitality of the parts to which it 
is applied. Its effects, when it is taken internally, in medicinal 
doses, are not, at first, very obvious. When continued for some 
time, it generally produces more or less heat and dryness of 
the throat and stomach, with nausea, increased secretion from 
the bowels and kidneys, irritation of the conjunctiva, and a 
peculiar swelling of the face termed oedema arsenic alis ; after 
the latter symptom appears, the medicine should be suspended. 
In too long -continued or too large medicinal doses, arsenious 
acid sometimes produces a sort of chronic poisoning, charac- 
terized by disorder of the digestive apparatus, conjunctivitis, 
oedema, salivation, a cutaneous eruption, loss of the hair and 
nails, paralysis, convulsions, and, if its use be persevered in, coma 
and delirium may result, terminating in death. In excessive 
doses, arsenious acid is a violent poison, usually destroying life 
by gastro-enteritis, in from one to two or three days. When 
very large quantities are taken, it sometimes acts on the cere- 
brospinal system, producing death by narcotism, in a few 
hours. Occasionally, gastro-enteric and cerebro-spinal symp- 
toms both occur. A few grains of arsenious acid may prove 
fatal. 

Dissections, in cases of poisoning from this agent, reveal red- 
ness (sometimes accompanied with extravasations of blood), 
ulceration, softening, effusion of lymph, and even gangrene, in 
the alimentary canal. The blood is often fluid and dark-col- 
oured. The absorption of arsenious acid into the system, after 
its administration, is shown by its presence in the blood, animal 
tissues, urine, &c. 

Antidotes and Treatment in cases of Poisoning. — The evacu- 



PREPARATIONS OF ARSENIC. 313 

ation of the contents of the stomach, by the stomach-pump or 
emetics, should be the first object in these cases. Demulcent 
drinks are to be also freely given. The hydrated oxide of 
iron should be administered, as soon as it can be procured, in 
the state of pulp or magma. It is prepared by the action of 
an alkaline solution on a sesqui-salt of iron ; water of ammonia 
is directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, to be added to a solu- 
tion of the tersulphate of iron (see p. 127). The hydrated 
oxide of iron is a soft, moist, reddish-brown magma, which acts 
as an antidote to arsenious acid, by forming with it an insoluble, 
inert, subarseniate of protoxide of iron. The dose is about 
twelve times the supposed amount of poison taken, and it should 
be given in the fresh and pulpy state, as it gradually loses its 
antidotical virtues when kept. The saccharated oxide of iron 
(see p. 127) has also lately been employed as an antidote, and 
even the suhcarbonate of iron also acts as an antidote, but this 
is much less powerful than the pulpy hydrate. Light magnesia 
(which has not been too strongly calcined), and freshly-precipi- 
tated gelatinous magnesia, may be also used as antidotes. The 
after treatment consists in the use of demulcents, opiates, and, 
if necessary, stimulants. 

Medicinal Uses. — -Arsenious acid is a very valuable altera- 
tive remedy, but it must be exhibited with caution. It is em- 
ployed with the greatest success in the treatment of miasmatic 
affections, as intermittent fevers, especially such as have resisted 
the use of cinchona, or have frequently reappeared ; in chronic 
cutaneous affections, particularly the scaly diseases (lepra, pso- 
riasis, and pityriasis) ; also in certain affections of the nervous 
system, chorea in particular, over which it exercises a marked 
control ; in chronic rheumatism, in phthisis, in the tertiary 
forms of syphilis, in irritable dyspepsia, gastric ulcer, diarrhoea, 
bronchitis, and as a tonic generally. As an external application, 
arsenious acid has been applied to indolent sinuses, lupus, ony- 
chia maligna, &c, either pure or mixed with several parts of 
sulphur ; its use is, however, attended with danger of constitu- 
tional effects. It is an ingredient of various empirical com- 
pounds, employed in the treatment of cancer. 



314 MATERIA MEDICA. 

Administration. — Dose, gr. ^g to y 1 ^, in pills with bread- 
crumb, three times a day, to be reduced when conjunctivitis 
appears, and suspended after the establishment of the oedema 
arsenicalis ; and, after being taken a fortnight, it should always 
be intermitted for a day or two. It is less apt to occasion gastric 
irritability, when given immediately after a meal. The usual 
and safer form of exhibiting this remedy, is that of solution 
with potash. 

Liquor Potassii Arsenitis {Solution of Arsenite of Po- 
tassium), or Fowler's Solution. This is prepared by boiling 64 
grains of arsenious acid and bicarbonate of potassium, each, in 
half a fluidounce of distilled water, then adding 12 fluidounces 
more of distilled water, half a fluidounce of compound spirit of 
lavender, and afterwards water enough to make the solution 
measure a pint. It is a transparent liquid, of an alkaline re- 
action, and has the colour, taste, and smell of spirit of lavender. 
It is a solution of the arsenite of potassium (KO,As0 3 ), and is 
decomposed by the reagents which act upon arsenic, and is in- 
compatible with infusions and decoctions of cinchona. Its effects 
and uses are analogous to those of arsenious acid, though some 
practitioners have denied their therapeutic identity. The anti- 
dote is the subacetate of the sesquioxide of iron, which renders 
inert all the salts of the acids of arsenic. Dose, gtt. v to gtt. x, 
and even gtt. xx, three times a day. Each fluidrachm contains 
half a grain of arsenious acid. 

Sodii Arsenias [Arseniate of Sodium), is made by melting 
together arsenious acid, nitrate of sodium, and carbonate of 
sodium, then dissolving the fused salt in boiling water, and after- 
wards crystallizing. In this process, the arsenious acid is oxi- 
dized into arsenic acid by the nitric acid of the sodium nitrate, 
and then combines with the soda of both salts, to form colour- 
less, transparent, prismatic crystals (2NaO,HO,As0 5 -f-14HO), 
slightly efflorescent, very soluble in water, of a somewhat saline, 
slightly acrimonious taste. This salt is employed to fulfil the 
therapeutic indications of the other arsenical preparations, and 
has the advantage of a somewhat milder local action. Dose, gr. 
y^-J. It is sometimes prescribed externally in the form of 



PREPARATIONS OF ARSENIC. 315 

baths, in chronic nodose rheumatism and gout, 5ss-5ij, or 5iy\ 
in each bath. It is generally used internally in the form of 

Liquor Sodii Arseniatis [Solution of Arseniate of Sodium), 
made by dissolving 64 grains of arseniate of sodium (rendered 
anhydrous at a heat not exceeding 300°), in a pint of distilled 
water; dose, gtt. x-xx. Cigarettes, made of paper saturated 
with a solution, two or three times the officinal strength, are 
smoked in asthma. 

Liquor xIrsenici Chloridi {Solution of Chloride of Arsenic), 
is made by boiling 64 grains of arsenious acid with 2 fluidrachms 
of muriatic acid and4nuidounces of distilled water, until the acid 
is dissolved, and adding to the solution, when cold, water enough 
to make it measure a pint. This is a recently introduced pre- 
paration, and is believed to be especially valuable in lepra and 
chorea, and generally where the arsenicals are indicated ; dose, 
the same as that of Fowler's Solution, than which it is thought 
to be less apt to disturb the stomach. 

Arsenici Iodidum (Iodide of Arsenic), made by rubbing 
5 parts of iodine and 1 part of arsenic together, is a teriodide, 
consisting of one eq. of arsenic and three eq. of iodine (Asl 3 ). 
It is an orange-red, crystalline, volatilizable solid, wholly soluble 
in water, and has been used both internally and externally in 
skin diseases. Dose, gr. J-, three times a day ; for external use, 
gr. iij to lard gj. 

Liquor Arsenici et Hydrargyri Iodidi (Solution of Iodide 
of Arsenic and Mercury). This solution, known as Donovan s 
Solution* is prepared by dissolving 35 grains of iodide of arsenic 
and red iodide of mercury, each, in half a pint of distilled water. 
It is considered by some chemists to be merely an aqueous so- 
lution of the two iodides ; by others, a solution of hydriodates 
of the oxides of the two metals. It has a pale-yellow colour, a 
slightly styptic taste, and is incompatible with the salts of 
morphia. 

Effects and Uses. — This is a highly valuable alterative pre- 
paration, in the various forms of papular and scaly cutaneous 
affections, and in obstinate syphilis. It was introduced by Mr. 
Donovan, of Dublin, in 1839, and has been a good deal em- 



316 MATERIA MEDICA. 

ployed in the United States. Dose, gtt. v to gtt. xx or more, 
three times a day. 



CALCII PHOSPHAS PR^ECIPITATA — PRECIPITATED 
PHOSPHATE OF CALCIUM. 

This salt is made by reacting upon bone-ash with muriatic 
acid, which dissolves the phosphate of calcium in the bones, and 
gives it up again, on the addition of water of ammonia. It is 
a white, inodorous, tasteless, insoluble powder, sometimes called 
the bone phosphate of calcium (3CaO,P0 5 ). It is an important 
and valuable medicine, not only in diseases of deficient ossifica- 
tion, as ununited fracture, caries of the bones, rickets, &c, but 
in all conditions of defective cell-growth and mal-nutrition, from 
its undoubted influence in promoting natural cell- growth and 
nutrition. Thus, it is employed (often in connection with other 
phosphates, as those of iron, sodium and potassium), in scrofula, 
phthisis, anaemia, diarrhoea, chronic bronchitis, abscesses, and 
wasting diseases of every kind. Dose, five to ten grains, and it 
may be well given dusted in a little milk. 



CALCII HYPOPHOSPHIS — H YPO PHO S PHITE OF 

CALCIUM. 

This salt is prepared by boiling phosphorus in a mixture of 
hydrate of calcium in boiling water ; phosphuretted hydrogen 
escapes, and phosphate and hypophosphite of calcium are formed 
in the liquid, from which the insoluble phosphate and residuary 
lime are separated by filtration, and the hypophosphite is after- 
wards crystallized out, in the form of white, pearly crystals, of 
a nauseous, bitter taste, soluble in 6 parts of water, and inso- 
luble in alcohol. All the soluble sulphates and carbonates pro- 
duce precipitates with this salt, (CaO,2HO,PO). 

Potassii Hypophosphis — Hypophosphite of Potassium 
(KO,2HO,PO), is prepared by mixing solutions of hypophos- 



CHLORIDE OF AMMONIUM. 317 

phite of calcium and carbonate of potassium. It occurs in 
white, opaque, confused, crystalline masses, having a disagree- 
able, bitter taste, very deliquescent, and very soluble in water 
and alcohol, but insoluble in ether. 

Sodii Hypophosphis — Hypophosphite of Sodium, (NaO, 
2HO,PO), is prepared by mixing solutions of hypophosphite of 
calcium and crystallized carbonate of sodium, and crystallizes 
in white tables, of a pearly lustre, very deliquescent (but less 
so than the potassium hypophosphite), very soluble in water 
and alcohol, and insoluble in ether. 

The hypophosphites have been lately introduced in the treat- 
ment of phthisis, under an impression that they prove useful by 
furnishing phosphorus to the tissues. They more probably act 
by stimulating cell-growth and nutrition, and may be given to 
fulfil the same indications as the precipitated phosphate of 
calcium. The soluble salts of mercury and silver are incom- 
patible with them. Dose, 10 to 30 grains, three times a day. 
The hypophosphite of calcium is the most eligible salt, but they 
are often given together, in the form of syrup. The hypophos- 
phite of iron was noticed with chalybeates (see p. 133). The 
\ypophosphite of ammonium is also used. 



AMMONII CHLORIDUM — CHLORIDE OF AMMONIUM. 

This salt, formerly termed muriate of ammonia, and often 
known as sal ammoniac, is obtained from the gas-liquor of coal 
gas works, and also in the preparation of animal charcoal from 
bones. It is brought in the crude state from Calcutta, for use 
in the arts, and in the refined state, for medicinal employment, 
from England. It occurs in white, translucent, tough, fibrous, 
hemispherical, convex-concave cakes, about two inches thick, 
difficult to powder, inodorous, of pungent, saline taste, slightly 
deliquescent, very soluble in water, and less so in alcohol. It 
may be considered either as a muriate of ammonia, (NH 3 ,HC1) 
or as a chloride of ammonium (NH 4 C1). 

The Pharmacopoeia directs that the imported salt should be 



818 MATERIA MEDICA. 

purified for medicinal use by the addition of 5 fluidrachms of 
water of ammonia to a solution of 20 troyounces of chloride dis- 
solved in 2 pints of water. Purified chloride of ammonium 
[Ammonii cliloridimi purificatum), occurs as a snow-white, crys- 
talline powder, soluble in 2J parts of cold, and in its own weight 
of boiling water, and soluble also in alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — The local action of chloride of ammonium 
is that of an irritant. In large doses it purges. In small doses, 
after absorption, it proves a powerful resolvent alterative, with 
a slight sedative action on the vascular system, and an increased 
flow of the secretions generally. It is not much employed in 
Great Britain or the United States, but it is extensively used 
in Germany — as a refrigerant sedative in mild fevers attended 
with stoppage of the secretions — as a resolvent in organic en- 
largements — in amenorrhoea — and in catarrhs, urethritis, &c. 
Of late, this salt has been used with advantage in muscular 
rheumatism and in neuralgia; and its resolvent powers are 
highly spoken of in fibroid tumours of the uterus. Dose, gr. 
v-xxx, every two or three hours, in powder or mucilaginous 
solution. Externally, it is used in solution (immediately upon 
being dissolved), as a refrigerant lotion (§i to half a pint of 
water), in cutaneous affections and indolent ulcers (5i to half a 
pint of water), and also a discutient. 



AMMONII PHOSPHA S — P HOSPHATE OFAMMONIUM. 

Although not officinal, this salt enjoys considerable reputa- 
tion as an alterative. It is made by adding Stronger Water of 
Ammonia to Diluted Phosphoric Acid, evaporating and crystal- 
lizing. It occurs in transparent colourless crystals, having the 
form of six-sided tables, of an alkaline, somewhat saline taste, 
soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol. As usually found in 
the shops, it is a mixture of the neutral and of the acid phos- 
phate of ammonium. 

Effects and Uses. — It has been used in this country as a 
remedy in gout and rheumatism, and is highly esteemed. In 



CHLORATE OF POTASSIUM. 319 

combination with carbonate of ammonium and aromatic spirit of 
ammonia, it has been also lately used with advantage in diabetes. 
Dose, ten to forty grains, three or four times a day, dissolved 
in an aromatic water. 



POTASSII CHLORAS — CHLORATE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt is prepared by various processes : a good one is by 
reacting upon solution of caustic potassa, mixed with lime, with 
a stream of chlorine — the chlorine is converted into chloric 
acid by oxygen from the lime, and the acid combines with the 
potassa to form chlorate of potassium (KO,CL0 5 ). It is a white 
anhydrous salt, crystallizing in rhomboidal plates of a pearly 
lustre, and is inodorous, and of a cool, saline taste. It is but 
little changed by exposure to the air, soluble in cold water, 
highly so in boiling water. It is said to be soluble in all the 
animal fluids without decomposing them, or undergoing change 
itself. 

Effects and Uses. — Chlorate of potassium, when taken inter- 
nally, gives a bright arterial tinge to the venous blood, reduces 
the volume and frequency of the pulse, and largely increases 
the secretion of urine, by which it passes out of the system 
unchanged. The appetite is improved under its use, and sali- 
vation is an occasional effect. Large doses may be taken with 
impunity, but excessive quantities have produced fatal gastro- 
enteric inflammation. As it contains a large supply of oxygen, 
it was at first employed, with a view to its oxidizing influence 
in contaminated conditions of the blood, as in malignant fevers, 
syphilis, &c; and, whatever the modus medendi, it is still con- 
sidered a valuable alterative in typhus, scarlatina, &c. Pro- 
bably its most positive remedial effects are seen in various forms 
of stomatitis, follicular, mercurial, and gangrenous. It is also 
used in diphtheria, croup, cyanosis, asthma, and even neuralgia. 
Externally in solution, it is an admirable wash or gargle in 
stomatitis, ozoena, the sore throat of scarlatina, sub-acute and 
chronic pharyngitis, diphtheria, and fetid ulcerated surfaces 
generally. Dose, internally, fifteen to thirty grains, every 



320 MATERIA MEDICA. 

three or four hours, in some pleasant vehicle. Troches of 
chlorate of 'potassium (trochisci potassii chloratis), are made by 
rubbing together 5 troyounces of chlorate of potassium, 18 
troyounces of sugar, 2 troyounces of tragacanth, and 30 grains 
of vanilla, and with water forming a mass, to be divided into 
480 troches, each containing 5 grains of chlorate of potassium. 
For external use, 5ij— iv may be dissolved in half a pint of water. 



POTASSII BICHKOMAS — BICHROMATE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt is obtained from the yellow chromate of potassium 
by acidulating its solution with sulphuric acid, which abstracts 
an eq. of potassa from two eqs. of the neutral salt, and thus 
generates the bichromate (KO,2Cr0 3 ); it separates in orange- 
red, anhydrous, tabular crystals, soluble in water, insoluble in 
alcohol, and of a cooling, bitter taste. 

Effects and Uses. — It is an irritant caustic, acting in over- 
doses as a corrosive poison, for which the proper antidotes are 
magnesia, soap, and the alkaline carbonates. In small doses, 
it is alterative, and has been used in syphilis, with encouraging 
results. In larger doses, it is emetic. Externally, it is a good 
application, in powder, or in saturated solution, to syphilitic 
warts, excrescences, &c. Dose, as an alterative, gr. J daily, 
in pill, with some bitter extract ; as an emetic, gr. f . 



POTASSII PERMANGANAS — PERMANGANATE OF 

POTASSIUM. 

This salt is made by heating together the black or binoxide 
of manganese with caustic potassa; a portion of the binoxide 
gives up to another portion oxygen enough to convert it into 
manganic acid, which combines with the potassa to form man- 
ganate, and this salt, when dissolved in water, is rapidly 
changed into permanganate (KO,Mn 2 7 ), with the production 
again of peroxide of manganese. It occurs in the form of 
slender prismatic crystals, of a deep-purple colour, inodorous, 



CHLORINE WATER. 321 

and of a sweetish astringent taste. It dissolves readily in 
water, making a beautiful lilac solution, which is readily decol- 
ourized by Fowler's arsenical solution. 

Effects and Uses. — There is little experience, as regards the 
action of this salt, when administered internally, although 
alterative effects are attributed to it (and probably with 
reason), in poisoned conditions of the blood, as in malignant 
fevers, diphtheria, pyaemia, &c. It is as a powerful disinfect- 
ant, that it at present claims chief attention, and it now ranks 
at the head of this class of agents, in destroying fetid odours, 
and poisonous organic emanations. It is used externally, in 
dressing foul and fetid or gangrenous ulcers, particularly in 
hospital gangrene, as an application to carbuncles, as a gargle 
in diphtheria, &c. It may be sprinkled in powder on gan- 
grenous surfaces, or applied in solution, of the strength of half 
an ounce, an ounce, or two ounces to a pint of water. As a 
disinfectant, a solution of from one to ten grains to an ounce 
of water, may be exposed in saucers, or sprinkled on the floor, 
or thrown into the air in spray by the atomizer. One to three 
grains may be given internally in solution, through the day. 
Solution of permanganate of potassium {liquor potassii per man- 
ganatis) contains 64 grains of the salt in a pint of distilled 
water — half a fluidounce contains 2 grains. 

AQUA CHLORINII — CHLORINE WATER. 

This is an aqueous solution of chlorine, which is generated 
by heating 3 troyounces of muriatic acid, diluted with 2 fluid- 
ounces of water, with half a troyounce of black oxide of man- 
ganese. The chlorine is conducted by suitable tubes, through 
2 fluidounces of water, into a bottle containing 20 fluidounces 
of distilled water, with which it is agitated, and the chlorine 
water is afterwards transferred to a well-stoppered bottle, made 
impervious to light. It should be kept in a cool place, pro- 
tected from the light, but it is soon decomposed. It occurs as 
a greenish-yellow liquid, having an astringent taste and the 
suffocating odour of the gas. Its employment internally is 

21 



322 MATERIA MEDICA. 

chiefly in essential malignant fevers, as scarlatina and typhus, 
also in syphilis and diseases of the liver. Dose, f5i-iv, diluted. 
Externally, it is used, diluted, as a wash in skin diseases, as an 
antiseptic, and by inhalation in bronchial affections. In case 
of poisoning by chlorine, albumen is the best antidote. 

CALX CHLORINATA — CHLORINATED LIME. 

This preparation, often called chloride of lime (CaO,Cl), is 
prepared by passing chlorine over hydrate of calcium till satu- 
ration is effected, and occurs as a loose, grayish-white powder, 
or friable lumps, dry or but slightly moist, readily soluble in 
water, of a bitter, caustic taste, and a faint odour of chlorine. 
It should contain at least twenty-five per cent of chlorine. It 
has been used as an alterative, in typhus, malignant scarlatina, 
syphilis, &c, in doses of from one to five grains, in solution, 
several times a day; and as a wash, externally, one part dis- 
solved in a hundred parts of water — or as a paste. It is 
chiefly, however, as a disinfectant, that it is employed. Its 
effects are essentially those of chlorine, like which it decom- 
poses hydrosulphuric and hydrocyanic acids, and should not 
be given with mercurials. 

Liquor Sode Chlorinate {Solution of Chlorinated Soda) 
(NaO,Cl), sometimes termed Labarraque 's disinfecting liquid, 
is made by decomposing a solution of carbonate of sodium by 
one of chlorinated lime. It is a transparent, greenish-yellow 
liquid, with a faint smell of chlorine, a sharp saline taste, and 
an alkaline reaction. It has been used internally, to fulfil the 
same indications as chlorinated lime, in doses of thirty drops to 
a teaspoonful, diluted, several times a day. It is useful, also, 
in dilution of various strengths, as an external application to 
every form of fetid ulcer, and it is a most valuable and power- 
ful disinfectant. 

Peroxide of Hydrogen (H0 2 ), has lately been added to 
our list of alteratives. It may be prepared in numerous ways, 
the only practically useful ones being based upon the decom- 



ANTACIDS. 323 

position of peroxide of barium by means of an acid in presence 
of water. The most satisfactory method is to pass a rapid 
current of pure carbonic acid through distilled water, peroxide 
of barium being added in small quantities, care being taken to 
have the acid always in excess. After filtration, the solution 
is concentrated under the receiver of an air pump. It is (in 
the form of a concentrated aqueous solution) a colourless, trans- 
parent liquid, less volatile than water, of a bitter taste, having 
a sp. gr. 1.452, and is incompatible with many substances, as 
all vegetable tinctures, the citrates and tartrates of the alkalies 
and of iron, hydrocyanic acid, sulphate, chloride, and nitrate 
salts, &c. 

Peroxide of hydrogen is an active oxidizing agent, and has 
been found highly efficacious in diabetes, in the dyspnoea of 
cardiac and pulmonic diseases, in promoting the blood-action 
of iron, and its use has also been suggested as an anti-syphi- 
litic remedy, in gout, and in epilepsy and other diseases of 
irritable action of the nerve-centres. The strength of the solu- 
tion should be such that the peroxide on decomposition should 
yield a volume of oxygen ten times as great as the volume 
of the solvent: dose, one to four fluidrachms three times a 
day. 

Locally, it has been applied with advantage to ill-conditioned 
ulcers, especially chancres. Under the name of Ozonic Ether, 
a solution of peroxide of hydrogen in ether has been used suc- 
cessfully in diabetes, in doses of from ten to thirty minims, up 
to a drachm. It is also employed in the form of spray, as a 
disinfectant, and as an application to ulcerated, fetid, or slough- 
ing surfaces; and it has been inhaled with advantage to relieve 
the cough of phthisis. 

ORDER III. — ANTACIDS. 

Antacids are medicinal agents, employed to neutralize acids 
in the blood, primae vise, and secretions. The alkalies and 
alkaline earths, and their carbonates, are the substances in- 
cluded in this division. The alkalies, in the concentrated state, 



324 MATERIA MEDICA. 

destroy organization and act as corrosive poisons ; they are 
administered internally only in a state of extreme dilution. 
The alkaline carbonates produce a less intense chemical action 
on the tissues than the alkalies; and the bicarbonates are less 
active than the monocarbonates. The alkaline earths, particu- 
larly magnesia, are less energetic in their local action than the 
alkalies proper ; and their carbonates manifest little or no 
chemical influence over the tissues.. 

When swallowed in a state of dilution, the alkaline prepara- 
tions combine with the free acids which they encounter in the 
stomach. The salts which are thus formed, unless carried off 
by the bowels, are absorbed into the blood, and are thrown out 
by the secretions, especially by the kidneys. While in the 
stomach, besides neutralizing acids, the alkalies also promote 
the digestion and absorption of fatty substances, by forming 
with them an emulsion. After absorption, they exert a lique- 
facient action on the blood, and render the urine alkaline. 
Their Ions-continued use disorders the functions of digestion 
and nutrition, produces a chronic deterioration of the blood, 
and sets up a cachectic condition somewhat analogous to 
scurvy. 

In the concentrated form, the alkalies are employed as 
escharotics. The various alkaline preparations are administered 
internally, in the diluted form : 1. as antacids, in dyspepsia, 
accompanied with excess of acid in the primge vise, and they 
are probably also of advantage, in dyspeptic cases, by pro- 
moting the digestion of fatty matters. The neutralization of 
acid, in dyspepsia, by the alkaline preparations, is chiefly 
palliative ; although their continued use often diminishes tem- 
porarily the tendency to acid secretion. The vegetable tonics 
and aromatics are frequently combined with antacids, very 
advantageously, in the treatment of dyspepsia. 2. As anti- 
dotes, in cases of poisoning from acids. 3. As antilithics, to 
neutralize lithic acid, when it is separated in undue quantity 
by the urine ; and, also, as lithontriptics, or solvents of calculi, 
especially lithates. They are improper when there is a ten- 
dency to the deposition of phosphates ; and, in treating cases 



PREPARATIONS OF POTASSIUM. 325 

of uric acid deposit, it is unnecessary to render the urine more 
than neutral, as, if it be made alkaline, the phosphates formed 
maybe deposited round the uric acid calculi. 4. In the treat- 
ment of acute rheumatism and gout, where they act by neutral- 
izing the excess of acid, with which the blood is charged in 
these diseases. 5. To relieve irritability of the urinary organs 
— ardor urinse in gonorrhoea — cutaneous irritation — uterine 
irritation — pruritus ani, &c, — wben these conditions of irrita- 
bility are dependent, as is often the case, on excess of acid in 
the system. 6. As diuretics (see p. 254). 7. As antiplastics 
and resolvents, in inflammation. 

The antacid preparations should be administered in a state 
of large dilution, with a view to facilitate their absorption, and 
to prevent an irritant and purgative action on the bowels. 



POTASSII PR^PARATA — PREPARATION'S OF 
POTASSIUM. 

The preparations of potassium, employed as antacids, are the 
Solution of Potassa, Carbonate of Potassium, and Bicarbonate 
of Potassium. 

Liquor Potass^e (Solution of Potassa), is prepared by the 
action of lime on a solution of bicarbonate of potassium ; the 
lime abstracts carbonic acid from the carbonate, and precipitates 
as carbonate of calcium, leaving the free potassa in solution; or 
it may be made, more directly, by dissolving a troyounce of 
potassa in a pint of -distilled water. Solution of potassa is a 
limpid, colourless liquid, without smell, of a very acrid, caustic 
taste, and an alkaline reaction. 

Effects and Uses. — The antacid, diuretic, antilithic, and 
resolvent properties and indications of this preparation have 
been described above. It is more irritant to the stomach than 
the carbonates of potassium, and is therefore less eligible for 
protracted use. In excessive quantity, it may act as an irritant 
and corrosive poison ; oils and vegetable acids should be 
administered as antidotes. Dose, gtt. x-xx, largely diluted 



826 MATERIA MEDICA. 

with sweetened water or mucilage. Externally, it is used, in a 
diluted state, as a stimulant lotion. 

Potassii Carbonas [Carbonate of Potassium). This salt, as 
usually kept in the shops, is prepared by the purification of 
the impure carbonate of potassium, known as pearlasli, which is 
obtained from wood-ashes, by lixiviation. Carbonate of potas- 
sium occurs in the form of a white, coarse, granular powder, of 
a nauseous, alkaline taste, and an alkaline reaction, — very solu- 
ble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. It is very deliquescent, 
forming, if long exposed to the air, an oily liquid with the 
water which it attracts. It consists of one equivalent of car- 
bonic acid, one of potassa (KO,C0 2 ), and two or three equiva- 
lents of water. Acids, acidulous salts, and many other sub- 
stances are incompatible with it. It is employed as an ant- 
acid, diuretic, antilithic, &c, in the dose of gr. x-xx, in some 
sweetened aromatic water. In large quantities, it acts as a 
corrosive poison, for which oils and vegetable acids are the 
antidotes. 

As the purified pearlasli of the shops is always more or less 
impure, a better salt for internal use is — 

Potassii Carbonas Pura (Pure Carbonate of Potassium), 
commonly called Salt of Tartar, from its having been formerly 
obtained from cream of tartar. It is now made by calcining 
bicarbonate of potassium, which is thus deprived of its water of 
crystallization and an equivalent of carbonic acid, and is re- 
duced to the state of carbonate. It differs from purified pearl- 
ash only in containing no impurities. 

Potassii Bicarbonas (Bicarbonate of Potassium), is made by 
passing carbonic acid through an aqueous solution of carbonate 
of potassium, till it is fully saturated. By filtration and evapo- 
ration, it is obtained in transparent, colourless crystals, having 
the shape of irregular eight-sided prisms with two-sided sum- 
mits. They are inodorous, of a slightly alkaline taste, perma- 
nent in the air, soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol, and 
consist of two equivalents of carbonic acid, one of potassa 
(KO,2C0 2 ), and one of water. The effects and uses of this 
salt are the same as those of the carbonate, but it is pleasanter 



PREPARATIONS OF SODIUM. 327 

in taste and less irritant to the stomach. Dose, 3j to 5j. In 
acute rheumatism, this dose may be repeated every hour or 
two. 



SODII PR^PARATA — PREPARATIONS OE SODIUM. 

Liquor Sod^e (Solution of Soda), is prepared by the action 
of lime on a solution of carbonate of sodium. It is a colour- 
less liquid, having an extremely acrid taste, and a strong alka- 
line reaction. Its properties and uses are the same. as those of 
solution of potassa. 

The preparations of sodium, generally employed as antacids, 
are the carbonates. There are several sources of carbonated 
soda. The native carbonate (called natron), is found in Egypt, 
Hungary, and other countries. Impure soda, obtained from 
the ashes of marine plants, is termed barilla or kelp, — barilla, 
when it is derived from phenogamous plants growing near the 
sea, and kelp, when procured from cryptogamic plants growing 
in the sea. Carbonate of sodium is now, however, chiefly made 
by artificial means, from sulphate of sodium, which is obtained 
in part from the manufacturers of chlorinated lime, but princi- 
pally by the action of sulphuric acid on chloride of sodium. 
The sulphate of sodium is fused with ground limestone and 
coal, and forms a black mass called British barilla, which con- 
sists of a mixture of oxysulphuret of calcium, caustic lime, and 
coaly matter, with carbonate of sodium. It is afterwards puri- 
fied by lixiviation, calcination, and other processes. By another 
process, artificial soda is made by decomposing the sulphate 
with sesquioxide of iron and coal. Within a few years past, 
caustic soda and the carbonates and other salts of sodium have 
been manufactured near Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, from cryo- 
lite (a fluoride of sodium and aluminium), which is found in an 
immense deposit in Greenland, and largely imported into Phila- 
delphia. Soda is obtained from cryolite by mixing it with lime 
and subjecting it to heat; the fluorine combines with the cal- 
cium, forming fluoride of calcium, while the remaining metals 
take the oxygen of the lime and also absorb it from the air. 



328 MATERIA MEDICA. 

and become alumina and soda, carbonic acid being afterwards 
passed through the solution, to form carbonate of sodium, the 
insoluble alumina being deposited. 

Sodii Carbonas {Carbonate of Sodium), crystallizes in large, 
oblique, rhombic prisms, which are transparent, very efflores- 
cent, of an alkaline, disagreeable taste, soluble in water, but 
insoluble in alcohol. When heated, they undergo the watery 
fusion, and part with their water of crystallization, which is 
entirely expelled at a red heat. The chemical composition of 
the salt is one equivalent of carbonic acid and one of soda 
(NaO,C0 2 ) ; and perfect crystals have ten equivalents of water 
of crystallization. It is apt to contain sulphate of sodium and 
common salt as impurities. Acids, acidulous salts, lime-water, 
earthy and metallic salts, &c, are incompatible with carbonate 
of sodium. 

Effects and Uses. — Carbonate of sodium is less irritant, and 
has a milder and more agreeable taste, than carbonate of potas- 
sium. Its effects are otherwise similar, and it is administered 
in the same cases. In overdoses, it is a corrosive poison, for 
which oils and acids are the antidotes. Dose, gr. x to 5ss, in 
powder, or dissolved in some bitter infusion. Owing to the 
variable quantity of water of crystallization which it contains, 
as kept in the shops, it is best given in the dried state. 

SodIi Carbonas Exsiccata (Dried Carbonate of Sodium). 
This salt is deprived of its water of crystallization by heat, and 
occurs in the form of a white powder. Dose, gr. v-xv, in 
pill, made with soap and aromatics. 

Sodii Bicarbonas (Bicarbonate of Sodium), is prepared by 
saturating the carbonate with carbonic acid. In the process 
followed in this country, the water contained in the carbonate, 
which is liberated during the process of its saturation, is 
drained off. Thus obtained, the crystals have the form of the 
carbonate, but are opaque and porous. They usually occur in 
granular masses, or in the form of a white, opaque powder, which 
contains variable amounts of soda, not fully saturated with 
carbonic acid, and is known as Sodii carbonas venale (Com- 
mercial carbonate of sodium). This is purified for medicinal 



PREPARATIONS OF LITHIUM. 329 

use by the percolation of 64 troyounces with 6 pints of dis- 
tilled water, and the purified salt occurs as a sijow-white powder, 
soluble in 13 parts of water, of a mild, slightly alkaline taste. It 
is a permanent salt, and consists of two eq. of carbonic acid, 
one of soda, (NaO,2C0 2 ), and one of water. By exposure to 
heat, it gradually parts with its carbonic acid, and at a red heat 
is converted into the anhydrous carbonate. 

The effects and uses of this salt are the same as those of the 
carbonate, but it is less irritant and of a more agreeable taste. 
When administered as an antilithic, it is said to be less liable 
than the carbonate to induce phosphatic deposits. It has been 
used as a liquefacient, in infantile croup, in the dose of gr. j, 
every five minutes, to promote the expulsion of false membrane. 
Dose, for an adult, gr. x to 5ss, which may be pleasantly taken 
* in carbonic acid water, or made into lozenges with sugar and mu- 
cil age of tragacanth. Soda Powders (Pulveres Effervescentes — 
Effervescing Powders), consist of tartaric acid (gr. xxv) in one 
paper, and bicarbonate of sodium (gr. xxx) in another. They 
are dissolved in separate portions of water, to the amount of 
half a pint in all, and, when mixed, form a pleasant effervescing 
draught. Bicarbonate of sodium is an ingredient also of 
Seidlitz Poivders (see p. 229). Troches of bicarbonate of 
sodium are made by mixing 3 troyounces of bicarbonate of 
sodium with 9 troyounces of sugar, and 60 grains of nutmeg, 
and making a mass with mucilage of tragacanth, to be divided 

into 480 troches, each containing 3 grains of bicarbonate. 

» 

LITHII PRJPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF LITHIUM. 

Lithia is a rare alkali, found in a few minerals. The carbo- 
nate (lithii carbonas) is prepared from lepidolite, or from sul- 
phate of lithium or chloride of lithium, by adding carbonate of 
ammonium. It is a white powder, of a mild alkaline taste, 
soluble in 100 parts of water, more soluble in carbonic acid 
water, and insoluble in alcohol. It consists of one eq. of lithia 
and one of carbonic acid (LO,C0 2 ). 

It is a very valuable antacid in gout, from the fact of its low 



330 MATERIA MEDICA. 

combining number, and the great solubility of the urate of 
lithium, thus enabling the carbonate to act powerfully in elimi- 
nating uric acid from the system. It is also a good diuretic. 
Dose, three to five grains, best given in carbonic acid water. 

Lithii Citras {Citrate of Lithium) (3LO,C 12 H.O n ), a deli- 
quescent white powder, soluble in 25 parts of water, is made 
by adding a solution of citric acid to the carbonate of lithium. 
It is converted into a carbonate in the system, and is, therefore, 
possessed of the same properties. 



AMMONII PR^IPARATA — PREPARATIONS OF 
AMMONIUM. 

The preparations of ammonium (previously noticed under the 
head of Stimulants, p. 173), are administered as antacids, in 
cases in which a stimulant action is not objectionable. Spiritus 
Ammonia? Aromaticus (Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia), is the 
preparation usually employed, and is an excellent antacid car- 
minative in heartburn, attended with flatulence, nausea with- 
syncope, &c. Dose, gtt. xxx-f5j. 



MAGNESII PR^PARATA — PREPARATIONS OF 

MAGNESIUM. 

* 

Magnesia (p. 224), and its Carbonate (p. 225), are employed 
as antacids in dyspepsia, sick-headache, gravel, &c, particu- 
larly where a laxative effect is also desirable. Dose, gr. x- 
xxx. Troches of Magnesia are made by mixing 3 troyounces 
of magnesia, 60 grains of nutmeg, and 9 troyounces of sugar, 
and forming with mucilage of tragacanth a mass, to be divided 
into 480 troches, each containing 3 grains of magnesia. 



CALCII PR^] PAR AT A — PREPARATIONS OF CALCIUM. 

The preparations of calcium, employed as antacids, are Lime- 
solution, Preciptitated Carbonate of Calcium, Prepared Chalk, 



PRECIPITATED CARBONATE OF CALCIUM. 331 

and Prepared Oyster- shell. They are very useful in cases of 
acidity or irritability of the stomach, but their action on the 
bowels is the reverse of that of magnesia, and hence they can 
hardly be administered where there is a tendency to constipa- 
tion. They are also much employed in diarrhoea, and occa- 
sionally as alterative resolvents in glandular enlargements, as 
antispasmodics in nervous disorders, and to relieve irritability 
of the bladder from calculus. 

Liquor Calcis (Solution of Lime — Lime-water), is a satu- 
rated solution of lime (four troyounces) in distilled, river, or 
rain water (eight pints). It is a colourless, inodorous liquid of 
a disagreeable, alkaline taste. By exposure to the air it grad- 
ually absorbs carbonic acid, with the formation of insoluble car- 
bonate of calcium. It should, therefore, be kept in full, well- 
stoppered bottles, or they should contain some undissolved lime. 

Effects and Uses. — Lime-solution combines antacid and as- 
tringent properties, and is applicable to all the cases in which 
antacids are proper, where an astringent effect on the bowels is 
not objectionable. It is an excellent remedy in gastric irrita- 
bility, attended with nausea and vomiting, and may be given 
mixed with an equal part of milk, which disguises its unpleasant 
taste. A diet of milk and lime-solution is very useful in 
dyspepsia, accompanied with vomiting of food. Lime-solution 
is employed also in diarrhoea, after inflammation has been 
subdued, in diabetes, and as an alterative resolvent in glandular 
affections. Externally r , it is used as a wash in tinea capitis, 
prurigo, scabies, &c, as an application to foul ulcers, and as 
an injection in leucorrhoea and gleet : atomized inhalations of 
lime-solution have been found useful in diphtheria. Dose, in- 
ternally, fSss to foiij-iv, several times a day ; for children, 
f5j. Linimentum Calcis {lime liniment), (eight fluidounces of 
lime-solution, mixed with seven troyounces of flaxseed oil, 
sometimes called Carron oil), is an invaluable liniment in burns 
and scalds, and in small-pox. 

Calcii Carbonas Pr^cipitata (Precipitated Carbonate of 
Calcium (CaO,C0 2 ), is made by mixing boiling solutions of 
chloride of calcium and carbonate of sodium. It is a fine 



332 MATERIA MEDICA. 

white powder, insoluble in water, and free from grittine^s, but 
possessing no superiority over jjrepared chalk. 

Creta Prjeparata [Prepared Chalk), is made from chalk 
or whiting, by levigation and elutriation. It occurs in little 
white conical loaves, which are tasteless, odourless, insoluble in 
water, but more soluble in carbonic acid water. It consists of 
one eq. of carbonic acid and one of lime (CaO,C0 2 ). Its effects 
are those of an absorbent, antacid, and desiccant astringent. 
It is used in dyspepsia and gout, attended with an excess of 
acid in the system; also in diarrhoea ; and, as it forms soluble 
salts of lime with the acids of the stomach, its employment has 
been suggested in rachitis. Dose, gr. x-xxx, in powder, or 
suspended in water with gum and sugar. Mistura Cretce 
(Chalk Mixture), consists of prepared chalk (half a troyounce), 
rubbed up with gum arabic (120 grains), and water (4 fluid- 
ounces), and afterwards mixed with glycerin (half a fluidounce), 
and cinnamon water (4 fluidounces) ; dose, fSss, repeated. 
Laudanum, and tincture of kino or of catechu, and aromatics, 
are often added to this mixture, in the treatment of diarrhoea. 
Troches of chalk are made by mixing 4 troyounces of pre- 
pared chalk, a troyounce of gum arabic, 60 grains of nutmeg, 
and 6 troyounces of sugar, and forming with w r ater a mass, to 
be divided into 480 troches, each containing 4 grains of pre- 
pared chalk. 

Testa Pr^eparata (Prepared Oyster-shell), differs from pre- 
pared chalk, in containing animal matter united with the car- 
bonate of calcium, and is thought to be more acceptable to a 
delicate stomach. Dose, gr. x-xxx. 



CLASS IV.— TOPICAL MEDICINES. 
ORDER I. — IRRITANTS. 

Irritants are medicines which are employed to produce irri- 
tation or inflammation of the parts to which they are applied. 
They may be subdivided into Rubefacients, Epispastics, 
Suppurants, and Escharotics. Rubefacients are used merely 



MUSTARD. 333 

to produce redness of the skin. Epispastics, or vesicants,- 
cause the exhalation of a serous fluid under the cuticle. Sup- 
pur ants produce a crop of pustules. Escliarotics have a chemi- 
cal action on the tissues with which they are placed in contact, 
and decompose or destroy them. 



RUBEFACIENTS. 

Rubefacients are employed to remove congestion and inflam- 
mation, to rouse the capillary system in cases of local torpor, 
to relieve pain and spasm, and as stimulants to the general 
system, in coma, syncope, asphyxia, &c. They are adapted to 
cases in which a sudden and powerful, but transient action is 
called for ; but they may also be employed where a slight and 
long-continued action is desired. In removing congestion and 
inflammation, rubefacients act by revulsion. They are chiefly 
useful in the forming stages or in light grades of inflammation. 
They are very serviceable local anodynes, when applied to 
painful parts — acting by a substitutive influence. As general 
stimulants, their efficacy in rousing the system depends partly 
on their action on the capillary circulation, and partly on the 
pain which they produce. They are most valuable in the coma 
or asphyxia resulting from poisons, drowning, &c, and are 
inferior to blisters in the cerebral oppression, which occurs in 
fevers, inflammations of the brain, &c. 

Rubefacients are usually applied till pain and redness super- 
vene. If kept too long on the skin, many of them will produce 
vesication and even gangrene; and, in cases of coma, particular 
caution is required, as the patient may not feel them till dan- 
gerous inflammation has occurred. 

S I N A P I S — M U S T A R D. 

Mustard-seeds are obtained from two varieties of Sinapis, 
— S. nigra, or Black Mustard, and S, alba, or White Mustard 
{Nat. Ord. Brassicaceae), small annual European plants, culti- 
vated in our gardens. S. nigra has become naturalized in 



334 MATERIA MEDICA. 

some parts of the United States. Black mustard-seeds are 
small, globular, of a deep-brown colour externally, and inter- 
nally yellow. They are inodorous, except in powder ; and, 
when rubbed with water, exhale a very strong, pungent smell. 
Their taste is bitterish, hot, and pungent. White mustard-seeds 
are larger, yellowish externally, and of a less pungent taste, 
owing to the presence of a mucilaginous substance in their skin. 
The poivder of both varieties (commonly called flour of mustard), 
is yellow, and is often adulterated with coloured wheaten flour. 
Both varieties yield their virtues wholly to ivater, and very 
slightly to alcohol. 

Chemical Constituents. — Mustard-seeds yield, upon pressure, 
a fixed oil, which contains a peculiar acid, termed erucic. 
From the black seeds a very pungent volatile oil, containing 
sulphur, is afterwards obtained by distillation : it does not pre- 
exist in the seeds, but is the result of the action of water upon a 
peculiar principle called sinapisin. It is colourless or pale-yel- 
low, rather heavier than water, of a very pungent odour, and an 
acrid, burning taste, and is the principle to which the black 
seeds owe their activity. From the white seeds no volatile oil 
is obtained ; but, when treated with water, they yield an acrid 
fixed principle, which is analogous in properties to the volatile 
oil of the black seeds. It is the result of the reaction of water 
upon sulpho- sinapisin, a peculiar ingredient of the white seeds. 
The development of the volatile oil in the black seeds, and of 
the acrid fixed principle in the white seeds, is supposed to de- 
pend upon the presence of an albuminous constituent, called 
myrosyne, which acts the part of a ferment in determining a re- 
action between water and the peculiar principles of the seeds. 
Myrosyne is rendered inert by heat, alcohol and the acids; and 
water, of the ordinary temperature, is therefore the proper 
menstruum of mustard. 

Effects and Uses. — Mustard is an acrid stimulant. In small 
quantities it is stomachic; in larger doses, it proves emetic; 
and, in excessive doses, it will produce gastro-enteric inflamma- 
tion. When applied to the skin, it is a rapid and powerful local 
excitant, speedily producing redness and pain, and, if long con- 



capsicum. 335 

tinued, it will develop vesication, ulceration, and even sphacelus. 
Mustard-seeds, swallowed whole, have been used as a laxative 
in dyspepsia, in the dose of a tablespoonful once or twice a clay, 
mixed with molasses ; the white seeds are preferred. When 
mustard is employed internally, however, it is chiefly as an 
emetic, in cases of torpor of the stomach, particularly after 
narcotic poisoning ; and, by its stimulant action, mustard often 
rouses the gastric susceptibility when other emetics fail. Dose, 
as an emetic, from a large teaspoonful to a tablespoonful of the 
bruised seeds or powder. Its use in smaller quantity, as a con- 
diment and stimulant of the digestive organs, is well known. 
In the form of wliey (half a troy ounce boiled in milk Oj), it is 
given as a diuretic in dropsy. The most general use of mustard 
is, however, as a cutaneous stimulant, in the form of cataplasm 
(termed a sinapism). This is made by mixing flour of mustard 
with a sufficient quantity of tepid water to give it proper con- 
sistence ; and it may be diluted with wheat or rye flour, if a 
weaker effect is desired. Sinapisms are used, when a speedy 
and powerful rubefacient eifect is required : they should be kept 
on till pain and redness are produced, usually from a quarter 
of an hour to an hour, and, in cases of insensibility, their effects 
should be carefully watched. They are applied spread on linen, 
and covered with gauze, to prevent adhesion to the skin. 

For ready use, there is now kept in the shops Charta Sinapis 
[Mustard paper), which is prepared by mixing 90 grains of 
black mustard (in powder), with enough solution of gutta-percha 
to give it a semi-liquid consistence, and then applying the mix- 
ture by a brush to a piece of stiff paper, 4 inches square ; be- 
fore being applied to the skin, it should be dipped for about 15 
seconds in warm water. 



CAPSICUM. 

Capsicum has been previously noticed as an aromatic stimu- 
lant (p. 177). It is a powerful rubefacient, useful in rheuma 
tism, low fevers, &c, and is applied in the form of cataplasm, 
or the tincture or oleoresin may be used. 



336 MATERIA MEDICA. 



OLEUM TEREBINTHIN^E — OIL OF TURPENTINE. 

The oil of turpentine (see p. 271), is a speedy and efficacious 
rubefacient, and sometimes produces a vesicular eruption. It 
is employed in low forms of disease, attended with coldness of 
the surface ; as a counter-irritant in inflammation ; and as a 
stimulating liniment in rheumatic and paralytic cases. It is 
often diluted with olive oil. 



LINIMENTUM AMMONIA — LINIMENT OE AMMONIA. 

This preparation, called also volatile liniment, consists of one 
iluidounce of water of ammonia (see p. 174), and two troyounces 
of olive oil. It is an excellent application, as a counter-irritant, 
in affections of the throat and chest, &c. 



PIX BURGUNDICA — BURGUNDY PITCH. 

This is the prepared resinous exudation from Abies excelsa 
or Norway Spruce (Nat. Ord. Pinacese), a lofty evergreen tree 
of Europe and Northern Asia. Abies picea, or the European 
Silver Fir, is said to be also a source of the drug. It is ob- 
tained by stripping off the bark, and detaching the flakes of 
resinous matter which form upon the surface of the wound ; 
they are afterwards melted in boiling water and strained. 
Burgundy pitch is principally collected in Germany and 
France, and derives its name from Burgundy, in the latter 
kingdom. After it is imported into the United States, it is 
generally re-melted and strained, to free it from impurities ; 
and, as found in the shops, it is a hard, brittle, opaque sub- 
stance, of a yellowish or brownish-yellow colour, and a weak 
terebinthinate taste and smell ; when applied to the body, it 
softens and becomes adhesive. It contains two resins, and a 
much smaller proportion of volatile oil than turpentine. 

A spurious Burgundy pitch is made by melting together 



CANADA PITCH. 337 

pitch, resin, and turpentine, and agitating the mixture with 
water. 

Effects and Uses.— This is a gentle rubefacient, producing a 
slight degree of inflammation and serous effusion, without sepa- 
rating the cuticle. It occasionally produces a papillary or 
vesicular eruption ; and, sometimes, though rarely, occasions 
painful vesication and even ulceration. It is applied in the 
form of plaster, to the chest in chronic pulmonary disorders, 
to the loins in lumbago, to the joints in chronic articular 
affections, and for the relief of local rheumatic pains in other 
parts. 

Emplastrum Picis Burgundicce [Burgundy Pitch Plaster), 
consists of twelve parts of Burgundy pitch, melted with one 
part of yellow wax, which is used to give consistence to the 
pitch. JEmplastrum Picis cum Cantharide (Plaster of Pitch 
with Qantharides), consists of twelve parts of Burgundy pitch, 
melted with one part of cerate of cantharides; this is commonly 
called the warming plaster, and is a more active rubefacient 
than Burgundy pitch, though it does not usually blister. The 
Plaster of Antimony, Plaster of Iron, Compound Gralbanum 
Plaster, and Opium Plaster, all contain Burgundy pitch. 

PIX CANADENSIS — CANADA PITCH. 

This is the prepared resinous exudation from Abies Cana- 
densis, or Hemlock Spruce (Nat. Ord. Pinaceae), a very lofty 
evergreen tree of Canada and the northern parts of the United 
States. The pitch (sometimes called hemlock gum), is a spon- 
taneous exudation on the old trees. The portions of bark upon 
which it hardens are stripped from the tree and boiled, and the 
melted pitch is skimmed from the surface of the water. It 
undergoes a further purification in the shops, by melting and 
straining, and is found in hard, brittle, opaque masses, of a 
dark yellowish-brown colour, a weak, peculiar odour, and 
scarcely any taste. It is more readily softened by heat than 
Burgundy pitch, and is therefore sometimes a less convenient 
application. Its constituents are resin, and a minute portion 

22 



338 MATERIA MEDICA. 

of volatile oil. Its effects and uses are the same as those of 
Burgundy pitch. 

JEmplastrum Picis Canadensis [Plaster of Canada Pitch), 
sometimes called Hemlock Pitch Plaster, consists of twelve 
parts of Canada pitch, melted with one part of yellow wax. 

Many other acrid substances are occasionally employed as 
rubefacients. Ginger (see p. 183), Black Pepper (see p. 
178), and Garlic (see p. 268), are particularly deserving of 
mention. 

EPISPASTICS. 

Epispastics, called also vesicants and blisters, are medicines 
which, when applied to the skin, produce inflammation, accom- 
panied by effusion of serum beneath the cuticle. Many of the 
rubefacients will blister, if kept on the skin a sufficient length 
of time; and, on the other hand, the action of vesicants may 
be made not to extend beyond rubefaction. The inflammation 
of the skin, caused by vesicants, is erysipelatous in its charac- 
ter, and may result in suppuration and even sloughing or gan- 
grene. In inflammations of the dermoid tissues, as rubeola 
and scarlatina, in typhus under certain circumstances, and in 
extreme infancy, — vesicants may produce fatal consequences. 

This class of agents is employed : 1. As local stimulants, 
in the cure of internal inflammations ; different explanations 
have been offered of the antiphlogistic influence of blisters, 
some therapeutists ascribing it to a derivative or revellent action, 
by determining vascular and nervous energy to the seat of 
their operation, but it is more probably due to a stimulant 
effect, extended to the capillary vessels of the inflamed organ, 
and experience has shown that, for the relief of internal in- 
flammation, they cannot be applied too near the affected organ. 
In affections of the head, blisters are preeminently useful. 2. 
To substitute a healthy therapeutic inflammatory action, which 
subsides spontaneously, for a morbid action existing in the part 
to which they are applied. In this way vesicants are used for 



CANTHABJDES. 339 

the cure of various cutaneous eruptions. 3. To relieve pain, 
which they do partly by a derivative, and partly by a substitu- 
tive influence. 4. To break up a train of morbid associations, 
by the powerful impression which they make on the nervous 
system, as in the cure of intermittent fever, spasmodic diseases, 
&c. 5. To stimulate the absorbing or secreting vessels of 
parts contiguous to the seat of their application ; in this way, 
they are useful in promoting the absorption of dropsical effu- 
sions, in the treatment of ununited fracture, &c. 6. As gen- 
eral stimulants, in typhoid conditions of the system, coma, 
syncope, &c. 7. As local stimulants, in threatened gangrene, 
paralysis, &c. 8. As evacuants, chiefly for the purpose of 
local depletion. 9. In retrocedent gout, and in retrocession of 
exanthematous eruptions. 10. To prepare a surface for the 
endermic application of medicines. 



CANTHARI S — C ANTHARIDES. 

Cantharis vesicatoria, termed also Lytta vesicatoria, the 
Spanish Ely, is an insect from six to ten lines in length, by two 
or three in breadth, of a beautiful, shining, golden-green 
colour. It is found most abundantly jn Spain, Italy, and the 
south of France, but occurs in all the temperate parts of 
Europe, and in Western Asia. The Spanish flies swarm on 
certain trees and shrubs, and may be detected at a considerable 
distance by their strong, fetid odour, which resembles that of 
mice. They make their appearance in May and June, and are 
collected in these months by persons who beat or shake them 
from the trees on which they lodge, and receive them, as they 
fall, upon linen cloths spread underneath. They are plunged 
into hot vinegar and water, or exposed to the vapor of boiling 
vinegar, and are afterwards dried in the sun or by drying 
stoves. When perfectly dry, they are packed in canisters, 
which are carefully closed so as to exclude atmospheric mois- 
ture. They are usually imported into this country from some 
Mediterranean port. A highly esteemed variety comes from 



340 MATERIA MEDICA. 

South Russia, through St. Petersburg, which is distinguished 
by the larger size and copper colour of the flies. 

In the dried state, cantharides retain their form, colour, 
odour, &c. ; their taste is acrid, burning, and urinous ; their 
powder is of a grayish-brown colour, interspersed with shining 
green particles. If exposed to moisture, they are soon decom- 
posed, most speedily when powdered. As, moreover, the 
powder is liable to adulterations, they should always be pur- 
chased whole, and should be powdered as they are wanted for 
use. They are liable to be attacked by mites, which destroy 
the interior soft parts : the best mode of preserving them is to 
expose them, in bottles, to the heat of boiling water, which des- 
troys the eggs of the insect. A little camphor or carbonate of 
ammonium, or a few drops of strong acetic acid or of chloro- 
form, added to the flies, are also recommended as preservatives. 

The most important constituents of cantharides are a volatile 
oil, upon which the odour depends, and a white micaceous, 
crystalline substance, termed cantharidin, which is the vesicat- 
ing principle. Cantharidin is inodorous, tasteless, soluble in 
ether, chloroform, -the oils, acetic acid, and boiling alcohol, and 
insoluble in water and cold alcohol ; but, notwithstanding this 
insolubility of cantharidin, watery and alcoholic solutions of 
cantharides possess the, medicinal properties of the insect, — 
the cantharidin being rendered soluble by the combination in 
which it exists. Cantharidin (C 10 H 6 O 4 ), by the aid of heat, in 
the presence of water, may be made to combine with the alka- 
lies, the cantharidin becoming converted into cantharidic acid 
(C 10 H 6 O 4 ,2HO). The cantharidate of potassium has been em- 
ployed as a blistering agent. 

Physiological Effects. — Cantharides are an acrid stimulant. 
Taken internally, in small doses, they excite the secretion of 
the kidneys, and sometimes produce more or less irritation of 
the genito-urinary passages, evinced by strangury, pain, and 
occasionally the discharge of bloody urine. In large doses, 
they produce violent gastro-enteric and genito-urinary inflam- 
mation ; and, in excessive doses, prove fatal, with convulsions, 
tetanus, delirium, and other cerebro-spinal symptoms. Twenty?- 



CANTHARIDES CERATE. 341 

four grains have occasioned death. In cases of poisoning, 
after the stomach has been emptied, opiates, demulcents, and 
stimulants are to be resorted to ; but oils are to be avoided. 
Applied to the skin, cantharides produce inflammation, which 
terminates in the secretion of serum under the cuticle. Even 
when they are externally applied, their constitutional effects, 
as strangury, tenesmus, &c, are frequently manifested. 

Medicinal Uses. — The indications which cantharides are 
capable of fulfilling, when administered internally, as a diuretic, 
emmenagogue, &c, have been already noticed (see p. 263). 
Their chief use is as an external application, to produce blisters ; 
but they are sometimes also employed externally, as rubefacients, 
for the purpose of local or general stimulation in low forms of 
disease. Cantharides are preferred to all other substances as 
epispastics, and they are used for all the medicinal purposes, 
that are within the range of this class of medicines. 

The following are the forms under which Spanish flies are 
used externally : 

Ceratum Cantliaridis (Cantharides Cerate), commonly known 
as Blistering Cerate, is made by mixing powdered cantharides 
(twelve parts) with melted wax and resin (each seven parts), 
and lard (ten parts). This is the preparation usually employed 
to raise a blister. It can be applied without the aid of heat, 
and should be spread on soft leather or linen or adhesive plaster? 
and covered with gauze or unsized paper, to lessen the liability 
to strangury. From four to twelve hours is the period for 
which the cerate should be applied — on the scalp a longer ap- 
plication may be required. For an ordinary impression, and 
where the cutaneous sensibility is not impaired by disease, it 
need not be kept on more than four or five hours. In cases of 
children, less time is required for the application of the cerate, 
and great caution is necessary in applying it to infants. A 
poultice of bread and milk or flaxseed meal should be after- 
wards applied, which usually produces vesication, if the action 
of the blister has not extended beyond rubefaction. If it be 
desirable to heal the blistered surface immediately, cotton wad- 
ding or cerate may be placed over it, after the serum has been 



342 MATERIA MEDICA. 

allowed to escape. To maintain the discharge, the cuticle 
should be removed, and basilicon ointment applied ; if the sur- 
face require further irritation, the ointments of savine, mezereon, 
or cantharides may be used. The open or perpetual blister is, 
however, not required, for ordinary antiphlogistic purposes ; 
and, indeed, as a general rule, the blistered surface should be 
allowed to heal as speedily as possible. In case of excessive 
pain, a poultice of bread-crumb and lead water, with grain \ of 
sulphate of morphia mixed in it, or a starch poultice, or lime 
liniment is a soothing application. Goulard's cerate is an excel- 
lent application to heal obstinate ulcers from blisters. For the 
relief of strangury, diluents and diuretics are proper, as flaxseed 
tea, with sweet spirit of nitre, decoction of uva ursi, &c. C era- 
turn JExtracti Cantharidis {Cerate of Extract of Cantharides) , 
differs chiefly from the common cerate in being made with an alco- 
holic extract of the flies instead of the flies themselves ; it is a 
new preparation, and is said to be more active than the old. To 
prepare it, 5 troyounces of cantharides are to be percolated to 
exhaustion with stronger alcohol, evaporated to the consistence 
of a soft extract, and mixed with 3 troyounces of resin, 6 troy- 
ounces of yellow wax, and 7 troyounces of lard (melted together). 
Ethereal, alcoholic, hydro-alcoholic, and watery extracts of 
Spanish flies have been suggested as substitutes for the blistering 
cerate, and mixed with wax and spread on thin cloth or paper, are 
termed vesicating taffetas. Unguentum Cantharidis {Ointment 
of Cantharides), is made by mixing 120 grains of cantharides 
cerate with 360 grains of resin cerate ; it is employed as a stimu- 
lating dressing to blistered surfaces, or to produce vesication on 
delicate skins. Linimentum Cantharidis {Liniment of Cantha- 
rides), consists of a troyounce of cantharides dissolved in eight 
fluidounces of oil of turpentine; it is a prompt stimulating lini- 
ment in low fevers, and may be applied to the skin to prepare 
it for the action of the blistering cerate. Collodium cum Can- 
tharide {Collodion with Cantharides), or Cantharidal Collodion, 
is made by percolating 8 troyounces of cantharides with 
stronger ether until 15 fluidounces have passed, then with 
stronger alcohol until half a pint more of liquid is obtained, 



WATER OF AMMONIA. 343 

evaporating to a fluidounce, and mixing with the residuum of a 
pint and a half of stronger ether ; to this are to be added with 
agitation 100 grains of pyroxolon, 320 grains of Canada tur- 
pentine, and 160 grains of castor oil, and the solution is to be 
kept in a well-stopped bottle. It furnishes a very convenient 
mode of blistering a small or irregular surface, and is applied 
by means of a camel's-hair brush, in successive layers, which 
should be covered with a piece of oiled silk. Charta Oantha- 
ridis (Qaniharides Paper), is made by boiling gently a mixture 
of 94 troyounces of white wax, a troyounce and a half of sper- 
maceti, 2 troyounces of olive oil, half a troyounce of Canada 
turpentine and cantharides each, in 5 fl uidounces of water, and, 
after filtration, passing strips of paper over the surface of the 
mixture, which, when dry, are cut into rectangular strips. 

CANTHARIS VITTATA — POTATO FLIES. 

Several species of Cantharis are found in the United States, 
and are good substitutes for C. vesicatoria. C. vittata, or the 
Potato Fly, is most used. It resembles the Spanish Fly in 
shape, but is rather smaller, being about six lines in length, 
and inhabits chiefly the potato plant. It contains cantliaridin. 

AQUA AMMONIA — WATER OF AMMONIA. 

Stronger Water of Ammonia (see p. 174) may be used for 
the purpose of speedy vesication. Five parts of this, mixed 
with spirit of camphor, two parts, and spirit of rosemary, one 
part, has been used as a prompt vesicant, under the name of 
Granville's lotion. A piece of flannel, saturated with the lini- 
ment, is applied to the skin, which it will generally blister in 
from three to ten minutes. G-ondret's vesicating ointment is 
made by melting together 2 parts of expressed oil of almond 
and 32 parts of lard, and adding to this mixture 17 parts of 
stronger water of ammonia ; it will vesicate in ten minutes. 
Ammonia is applied locally as an antidote to the poison of 
venomous reptiles and insects. 



344 MATERIA MEDICA. 

SUPPURANTS. 
OLEUM TIGLII — CROTON OIL. 

Croton oil (see p. 244), when rubbed on the skin, produces 
rubefaction, accompanied by a pustular eruption. It is an 
excellent application to the throat and chest, in subacute or 
chronic laryngeal and bronchial affections, and to rheumatic 
joints. It may be applied undiluted, or mixed with one, two, 
or three parts of olive oil or oil of turpentine, according to the 
susceptibility of the skin. 

UN6UENTUM ANTIMONII — A N TIM ONI A L OINTMENT. 

This ointment consists of one part of tartrate of antimony 
and potassium mixed with four parts of lard. The peculiar erup- 
tive effects of tartar emetic have been already noticed (p. 197). 
It may be used in the form of ointment or solution, in the same 
cases as croton oil, but it is a more painful and permanent 
application. 

ESCHAROTICS. 

Escharotics (from ecr^apa, an eschar), called also cauferants, 
are medicines which destroy the structure and vitality of the 
parts to which they are applied. The eschar, which their ap- 
plication produces, is followed by inflammation and suppuration 
in the surrounding tissues, by which the slough is separated 
from the living parts. 

They are employed : 1. To effect the destruction of morbid 
growths, warts, condylomata, polypi, fungous granulations, &c. 
2. To decompose the virus of rabid and venomous animals, 
and of chancres. 3. For the cure of violent inflammation, by 
their substitutive action, as when they are applied to the mucous 
or cutaneous surfaces, in gonorrhceal ophthalmia, erysipelas, 
poisoned parts, carbuncle, &c. 4. To stimulate indolent sinuses, 



POTASSA. 345 

ulcers, &c, where their influence is also of a substitutive char- 
acter. 5. To open abscesses. 6. To form issues. 7. To re- 
move morbid heterologous growths, as lupus, cancer, &c. 

ARGENTI NITRAS FUSA — FUSED NITRATE OF 

SILVER. 

Lunar Caustic (described at length, p. 141), is the most 
commonly employed of the caustics. It has the advantage of 
not liquefying when applied, and its action is therefore con- 
fined to the parts with which it is brought in contact. It is 
used to remove fungous granulations in wounds and ulcers, to 
destroy warts, to decompose and prevent the absorption of the 
syphilitic virus in chancres, to alter the action of indolent 
ulcers, sinuses, and fistulse, to subdue the inflammatory action 
of paronychia, erythema, &c, to arrest the progress of erysip- 
elas and cancrum oris, to cut short variolous pustules, to cure 
skin diseases by a substitutive action, and in inflammations of 
mucous membranes. In dilutions of various strengths, it is 
resorted to in every variety of inflammation of the mucous 
membranes ; when a full impression is desired, a solution of gr. 
xx-xxx in distilled water f§j, may be employed; for ordinary 
purposes, gr. ij to water f§j. 

POTASSA. 

Caustic Potassa is prepared by the rapid evaporation of Solu- 
tion of Potassa (see p : 325) w T ith heat. While in the state of 
fusion, it is received into cylindrical iron moulds, and it occurs 
in the form of sticks, of a brownish, grayish, or bluish colour, 
a fibrous fracture, the odour of slacking lime, and a caustic, 
urinous taste. It dissolves in alcohol, and in less than its 
weight of water, and attracts both moisture and carbonic acid 
rapidly from the air. It is more or less impure as found in 
the shops. By digestion in alcohol, it is freed from impurities 
insoluble in this menstruum (as the carbonates of potassium), 
and it may be afterwards obtained quite white and pure by 



346 MATERIA MEDICA. 

evaporation ; it is then termed alcoholic potassa. The potassa 
of the shops is a hydrate, consisting of one eq. of water and 
one of potassa. 

Effects and Uses. — It is the most powerful known escharotic, 
and differs from lunar caustic, in extending its action to a con- 
siderable depth beneath the surface to which it is applied. It 
is used chiefly to open abscesses and form issues, to destroy 
the virus of chancres, of malignant pustules, and from the 
bites of venomous reptiles and rabid animals, and sometimes 
also to arrest the sloughing of carbuncles ; applied to the cuta- 
neous surface, in cases of phlegmon, threatened carbuncle, &c, 
it will sometimes avert the progress of inflammation. When 
it is applied to the skin, this should be covered with linen 
spread with adhesive plaster, having a hole the size of the spot 
to be cauterized. A solution (Sjss to f§ij of water), is used as 
a rubefacient. 

Potassa cum Calce [Potassa with Lime), is prepared by 
rubbing up equal parts of potassa and lime. It is a grayish- 
white powder, which is sometimes made into a paste with a 
little alcohol, and is termed Vienna paste; it has also been 
formed into sticks. The presence of lime renders this a milder, 
less deliquescent, and more manageable caustic than potassa ; 
it is a favourite application to chancres. 

SODA. 

Caustic Soda is prepared by the rapid evaporation of solution 
of soda (see p. 327) until ebullition ceases, and the soda melts ; 
when it has congealed, it is broken into grayish-white, opaque, 
brittle fragments, which are very corrosive, very soluble in 
water, soluble in alcohol, and deliquescent, though unlike 
potassa, it does not become permanently liquid, but, after a 
time, effloresces. It is employed for the same cauterant pur- 
poses as potassa, than which it is somewhat milder in action. 
London paste, made by rubbing up equal parts of soda and 
lime, has been used with good effect in the removal of enlarged 
tonsils. 



CHLORIDE OF ZINC. 347 



ACIDUM CHEOMICITM — CHROMIC ACID. 

Chromic Acid (CrO s ) is obtained by the reaction of sulphuric 
acid upon a solution of bichromate of potassium. It occurs in 
the form of anhydrous deep-red, needleform crystals, of an 
acid, metallic taste ; they are deliquescent, and very soluble in 
water, with which they form an orange-yellow solution. 

Effects and Uses. — This is an escharotic of recent introduc- 
tion into the Materia Medica. It is of unsurpassed power in 
this particular, decomposing the tissues by its rapid oxidizing 
action. Used in the form of paste, or solution more or less 
diluted, it is a most efficacious application to morbid growths 
and excrescences, as syphilitic condylomata, &c. It gives less 
pain than other caustics ; but it is to be used with caution, espe- 
cially to delicate parts like the eye, as its action is deeply pene- 
trating. The solution may be made of the strength of from 
100 grains up to a troyounce to a fluidounce of water ; and is 
to be applied by means of a pencil or glass rod. 



ACIDUM ARSENIOSUM — ARSENIOUS ACID. 

This is a powerful escharotic (see p. 310), and is occasionally 
applied in lupus, onychia maligna, cancerous ulcers, and to 
change the action of indolent sinuses ; but its use is attended 
with danger. It may be diluted with one or more parts of sul- 
phur. 



ZINCI CHLORIDUM — CHLORIDE OF ZINC. 

This is also a powerful escharotic (see p. 139) ; and, in addi- 
tion to its corrosive properties, it appears to exercise a greater 
influence over the vital action of neighbouring parts, than some 
of the other caustics. The separation of its eschar leaves very 
healthy and vigorous granulations, and it is one of the best 
applications that can be made to intractable indolent ulcers and 
sinuses. It will cure lupus. 



348 MATERIA MEDLCA. 



LIQUOR HYDRARGYRI NITRATIS — SOLUTION OF 
NITRATE OF MERCURY. 

This preparation (see p. 300), termed also the acid nitrate of 
mercury, is a valuable caustic application to malignant ulcers, 
hospital gangrene, &c. 

HYDRARGYRI CHLORIDUM CORROSIVU M — C ORROSIVE 
CHLORIDE OF MERCURY. 

Corrosive Sublimate is more frequently used as a stimulant 
wash than as a caustic. For its properties, uses, and modes of 
application, see p. 295. 

POTASSII BICHROMAS — BICHROMATE OF POTASSIUM. 

This salt, already noticed under the head of alteratives (see 
p. 320), is a good caustic application, in saturated solution, or 
powder, to syphilitic and other vegetations. 

ACIDA MINERALIA MINERAL ACIDS. 

The mineral acids (see p. 143), are powerful escharotics, but 
are inconvenient for many uses, on account of the extension of 
their action beyond the point of application. On the other 
hand, they can be made to reach the bottoms of sinuses and 
fistulas, which are inaccessible to the solid caustics. Nitric 
acid, for such purposes, has no equal in the list of escharotics ; 
it is also used to destroy warts. Properly diluted, the mineral 
acids are employed in injections, gargles, &c. ; and in the form 
of ointment in skin diseases. 

Sulphate of Copper (see p. 136), and Alum (see p. 168), 
are mild escharotics, but are chiefly used to remove fungous 
granulations in ulcers. The actual cautery and moxa have been 
alluded to under the head of Heat (see p. 20). 



DEMULCENTS. - 349 



ORDER II. DEMULCENTS. 



Demulcents, or Lenitives, are medicines which soften and 
relax the tissues, and, when applied to irritated or inflamed 
surfaces, diminish heat, tension, and pain. They consist 
chiefly of gum, or mucilage, or of a mixture of these with 
saccharine and farinaceous substances, and form with water 
viscid solutions. Their constitutional effects are principally 
nutritive, though perhaps to some extent they relieve irritation 
in distant organs, by modifying the acridity of the secretions. 
Demulcent solutions are administered internally : 1. To sheathe 
and protect the gastro-enteric surface from the injurious effects 
of irritating substances — particularly acrid poisons. 2. To 
relieve irritation and inflammation of the alimentary canal, as 
in gastritis, enteritis, diarrhoea, and dysentery; and for this 
purpose they may be administered either by the mouth or 
rectum. 3. In catarrhal affections, in which they are probably 
useful, in part by the transmission of their lubricating and 
soothing effects on the fauces and oesophagus by reflex action 
to the laryngeal and bronchial membranes, and in part by 
.modifying the acridity of expectorated matters. 4. In affec- 
tions of the urinary passages, as arplor uringe, cystitis, &c, 
and, in these cases, they act chiefly by diminishing the acridity 
of the secretions. 5. As agreeable drinks, to quench thirst 
and promote the action of the secreting and exhaling organs, 
in febrile affections. Their effects, in these cases, are owing 
partly to the water which they contain, to which they are 
added merely for the sake of flavour, and partly also to the 
nutrient which they furnish. When administered with the ob- 
ject of increasing the proportion of the fluid parts of the blood, 
demulcents are termed diluents. 6. As light diet for the sick. 
7. For pharmaceutical purposes, to suspend substances in- 
soluble in water, &c. 

Externally, mucilaginous solutions are extensively employed, 
to relieve the heat, swelling, and pain of inflammations, wounds, 
burns, &c. ; to hasten suppuration, where inflammation is too 



/ 



350 . MATERIA MEDICA. 

far advanced for resolution; to cleanse foul and scabby ulcers; 
to promote suppuration from granulating surfaces, &c, &c. 
Mucilaginous and amylaceous substances are applied to inflamed 
and ulcerated parts, mixed with water so as to form soft masses, 
termed cataplasms or poultices. These are useful vehicles of 
heat and moisture to the skin, and are used also as local appli- 
cations, in rheumatism and gout, and for the relief of internal 
inflammations, as when applied to the chest and abdomen in 
pleurisy, bronchitis, peritonitis, dysentery, &c. Applied ex- 
ternally, this class of medicines is termed emollients. 



AQUA — WATER. 

Water has important medicinal as well pharmaceutical uses. 
The Pharmacopoeia directs it to be employed in the purest attain- 
able state, which is rain or snow water; for pharmaceutical pur- 
poses, distilled ivater {aqua destillata), should be used. Pure 
water is a transparent liquid, without colour, taste, or smell; but 
owing to its extensive solvent powers, in the natural state it is 
more or less contaminated with foreign matters. It is usually 
considered to be a compound of 1 eq. of hydrogen and 1 of. 
oxygen (HO). 

Effects and Uses. — Water is necessary for the solution and 
digestion of our food; in either insufficient or excessive amount, 
it may prove injurious. Thus, without a proper supply of 
water, not only the absorption of soluble matters in the 
stomach is interfered with, but also the passage of undigested 
substances into the intestines, and, besides, some articles, as 
sugar, do not undergo the fermentation necessary for digestion. 
On the other hand, an excess of water, taken into the stomach, 
impairs digestion by overdilution of the gastric juice, and will 
occasion the acetous fermentation of saccharine articles. Water 
is eliminated from the system by the intestines, skin, and lungs, 
but chiefly by the kidneys; and it is believed, in large amounts, 
to increase not only the water but the solid constituents of the 
urine, hence its use as a diuretic. As it promotes both the meta- 



GUM ARABIC. 351 

morphosis and construction of tissue, it may produce a valuable 
alterative effect in morbid taints of the system and prove a useful 
adjunct to more active eliminative agents. Water is the basis of 
all drinks administered to relieve the thirst of fever, and moderate 
the undue viscidity of the blood which is present in inflamma- 
tion; it must not be permitted in excess, however, as undue 
amounts may produce nausea, flatulence, and even vomiting 
and diarrhoea. The uses of water, as an external agent, have 
been noticed under the head of heat and cold. 

Aqua Acidi Carbonici [Carbonic Acid Water). Water im- 
pregnated with a quantity of carbonic acid, equal to five times 
the bulk of the water (which may be obtained from bicarbonate 
of sodium or from marble, by means of diluted sulphuric acid), 
often proves useful in allaying nausea and vomiting, and is also 
a good vehicle for some of the neutral purgative salts, which 
are of unpleasant taste. 



ACACIA — GUM ARABIC. 

Gum Arabic is a gummy exudation from Acacia vera, Acacia 
Arabica, and other species of Acacia {Nat. Ord. Fabacese), 
thorny or prickly trees or shrubs of Africa and Arabia. The 
gum exudes, either through natural ^cracks in the bark, or 
through incisions made to facilitate its exudation, and hardens 
on exposure. The most abundant yield is in the hot and dry 
weather, and is obtained from the sickliest trees. Several com- 
mercial varieties are known, as Turkey, Barbary, Senegal, 
India, &c, of which the two most important are Turkey gum, 
and Senegal gum. 1. Turkey gum comes from the Levant or 
other parts of the Mediterranean, and is the kind usually found 
in the shops. It consists chiefly of small, irregular fragments, 
interspersed with larger pieces, of a whitish colour, which is 
sometimes slightly tinged with yellow or reddish-yellow. It is 
lighter- coloured, more brittle, more readily soluble, and purer 
than other varieties, and is generally characterized by innumer- 
able minute fissures pervading its substance. 2. Senegal gum 



352 MATEKIA MEDICA. 

comes from the western coast of Africa. It occurs in roundish, 
or oval unbroken pieces, larger, less brittle, and breaking with 
a more conchoidal fracture than those of Turkey gum, some- 
times whitish, but generally yellowish, reddish, or brownish-red. 
3. Barbary gum comes from Morocco ; it is derived, in part at 
least, from A. gummifera, and consists of two kinds, one re- 
sembling the Turkey, the other the Senegal gum. 4. India 
gum, though brought from India, is collected on the northeast- 
ern coast of Africa, and in the ports of the Red Sea. It is in 
pieces of varying size, colour, and quality, and is often con- 
taminated with Bassora gum, which is insoluble in water. 
Gum is also imported into England from the Cape of Good 
Hope, and from Australia. All the varieties are more or less 
transparent, hard, brittle, and pulverizable, and form a white 
powder. They are inodorous, with a feeble, slightly sweetish 
taste, and, when pure, dissolve wholly in the mouth.' When 
kept in a dry place, they undergo no change by time. 

Chemical Constituents. — Gum Arabic consists almost wholly 
of a peculiar proximate principle, usually termed gum, but lat- 
terly designated by chemists as arabin. It is soluble in hot 
or cold water, forming a viscid solution, called mucilage, and is 
insoluble in alcohol, ether, and the oils. Alcohol precipitates 
gum from its aqueous solution ; subacetate of lead (which is a 
delicate test), nitrate of lead, and solution of sesquichloride of 
iron also precipitate it from solution. Arabin is now con- 
sidered to consist chiefly of a soluble acid substance termed 
gummic acid, combined with about 3 per cent, of lime, forming 
a soluble salt, gummate of lime. Gums of inferior transparency 
and solubility contain bassorin, an inert principle, insoluble in 
water and alcohol. 

Effects and Uses. — Gum Arabic is extensively employed, 
internally, as a demulcent in gastro-enteric inflammation, 
diarrhoea, dysentery, cases of acrid poisoning, &c. ; as a lubri- 
cant to the fauces in catarrhal affections, and also as a vehicle 
for anodynes and expectorants in cough mixtures ; and as a dilu- 
ent in fevers and inflammatory cases. It is not now con- 
sidered to be digestible, and can scarcely rank (as formerly 



TRAGACANTH. 353 

supposed) with nutrients. It is usually administered in solu- 
tion (a troyounce to boiling water Oj, to be given when cool) ; 
in cases of irritation of the fauces, it may be taken in the 
mouth, and allowed slowly to dissolve. For pharmaceutical 
purposes, gum arabic is much used to suspend insoluble sub- 
stances in water, and in making pills and lozenges. Mucilago 
Acacice [Mucilage of Gium Arabic) — (four troyounces to water 
Oss), — is used in making pills, emulsions, &c. ; it becomes sour 
by keeping. Syrupus Acacice (Syrup of Crum Arabic), — two 
troyounces to water f^viij, with sugar fourteen troyounces), — 
is used for the same purposes. Mistura Amygdala? (Almond 
Mixture), — is made by dissolving a mixture of half a troyounce 
of blanched sweet almonds, 30 grains of gum arabic, 120 grains 
of sugar, in half a pint of distilled water ; it is a pleasant demul- 
cent and vehicle for other medicines. By dissolving equal parts 
of sugar and gum arabic in water and evaporating, an agreea- 
ble demulcent is obtained, known as gum pectoral, which is sold 
as an imitation of jujube paste. 



TRAGACANTHA — TRAGACANTH. 

This is a gummy exudation from Astragalus verus and 
other species of Astragalus (Nat. Ord. Fabacese). They are 
small shrubs found in Persia, Asia Minor, and countries border- 
ing on the Levant — with numerous branches, covered with im- 
bricated scales and beset with spines. Tragacanth exudes 
spontaneously in the hot weather, and hardens as it exudes, in 
forms of various shapes. It occurs in irregular, tortuous pieces, 
of a whitish or yellowish-white or occasionally a slightly red- 
dish colour, somewhat translucent, resembling horn in appear- 
ance. It is hard and fragile, but very difficult of pulverization, 
has no smell and very little taste. When heated with water, 
it swells and forms a paste, and, if agitated with an additional 
quantity, it forms a uniform mixture, from which it is, however, 
almost entirely deposited, upon standing a clay or two. It 
contains two constituents, one soluble in water, resembling, 

23 



354 MATERIA MEDICA. 

arabin, the other termed tragacanthin, which is probably identi- 
cal with bassorin. 

Effects and Uses. — Tragacanth is seldom given internally, 
on account of its difficult solubility. It is useful in suspending 
heavy insoluble powders, and answers better than gum arabic 
to impart consistence to lozenge?. Mucilago Tragacanthce 
[Mucilage of Tragacanth), — (a troyounce to boiling water Oj), 
— is used in making pills and troches, and for the suspension 
of heavy insoluble metallic substances. 

LINUM — FLAXSEED. 

This is the seed of Linum usitatissimum, or Common Flax 
(Nat. Orel. Linacece), an annual plant, of the height of two 
feet, originally a native of Eastern countries, but naturalized 
in Europe, and cultivated in all parts of the world. The seed 
and oil are both officinal. The seeds are about a line in length, 
oval, smooth, and glossy, of a brown colour externally, and 
yellowish-white within ; a variety of flax is cultivated in Ohio, 
the seeds of which are greenish-yellow. Flaxseeds are inodo- 
rous, and have an oily, mucilaginous taste. They contain a 
fixed oil, a large proportion of mucilaginous matter, vegetable 
albumen, and various other ingredients ; the mucilaginous mat- 
ter, which is found chiefly in the husks of the seeds, consists, 
about one-half, of a principle soluble in cold water, resembling 
arabin, and, about one-third, of a principle insoluble in water. 
The oil (oleum lini or linseed oil), is obtained by expression from 
the interior part of the seeds ; it is laxative in the dose of 
foi-ij, but it is chiefly used, externally, as an ingredient of lini- 
mentum calcis (see p. 331). 

Effects and Uses. — The compound infusion of flaxseed (in- 
fusum lini compositum), half a troyounce to boiling water Oj, 
with liquorice root 5ij, is an admirable demulcent, extensively 
employed internally, in catarrh, bowel-complaints, nephritic and 
calculous complaints, strangury, &c. ; and also (without the 
liquorice root), as an external antiphlogistic application. De- 
coction is an improper mode of preparing a demulcent solution 



SLIPPERY-ELM BARK. 355 

of flaxseed, as boiling extracts part of the oil; but it answers 
very well when it is used as a laxative enema. Flaxseed meal 
(lini farina), forms a much- used emollient poultice, which is 
prepared by adding the meal to boiling water, constantly stir- 
ring, until it makes a thin and smooth dough. The cake, re- 
maining after the expression of the oil, retains the mucilaginous 
and albuminous constituents of the seeds, and forms a food for 
cattle, under the name of oil-cake. This is used for making- 
poultices, but it is inferior to the meal made from the seeds 
which have not been deprived of their oil. 



ULMUS — SLIPPERY-ELM BARK. 

This is the inner bark of Ulmus fulva, or Slippery Elm 
(Nat. Ord. Ulmacese), a lofty indigenous tree, which is found 
throughout the United States, north of Carolina, and grows 
most abundantly west of the Allegheny Mountains. The inner 
bark is prepared for use by the removal of the epidermis ; it is 
found in the shops in long flat pieces, of a fibrous texture, 
tawny on the outer surface and reddish on the inner, of a pecu- 
liar but not unpleasant smell, and a very mucilaginous taste. 
It affords a light, grayish, fawn-coloured powder. A large quan- 
tity of mucilaginous matter is contained in it, which is readily 
yielded to water. Much of the bark lately brought into the 
market is inferior, containing but little mucilage ; it is less 
fibrous and more brittle than the genuine bark. 

Effects and Uses. — Slippery-elm bark is a valuable demul- 
cent, extensively and advantageously employed in dysentery, 
diarrhoea, genito-urinary diseases, catarrhs. &c. It is also 
highly nutritious. Externally, it is an excellent emollient ap- 
plication, in the form either of infusion, or of poultice made 
with the powder. It has been also recommended for the dilata- 
tion of strictures and fistulae. The infusion — mucilago ulmi 
(mucilage of slippery -elm bark), — (a troyounce to boiling water 
Oj), — may be used ad libitum. 



356 MATERIA MEDICA. 

SASSAFRAS MEDULLA — SASSAFRAS PITH. 

Sassafras pith is the pith of the stems of Sassafras officinale 
(see p. 252). It occurs in light, spongy, whitish, slender, 
cylindrical pieces, of a mucilaginous taste. It abounds in a 
gummy matter, which it yields readily to water, forming a 
limpid, viscid mucilage. This mucilage (5j to boiling water Oj), 
is a pleasant demulcent drink in dyspeptic, nephritic, and ca- 
tarrhal affections, and is much used as a soothing application in 
ophthalmia. 

ALTHiEA MARSHMALLOW. 

The ROOTS of Althaea officinalis (Nat. Ord. Malvaceae), and 
other Malvaceae, herbaceous European plants, occasionally 
found too on the borders of salt marshes in our own country, 
are much used in Europe as demulcents. They are imported 
in pieces three or four inches in length, of nearly the thickness 
of the finger, light, easily broken, white externally, of a pecu- 
liar faint smell, and a mild, mucilaginous, sweetish taste. The 
chief constituents of marshmallow are mucilage and starch, the , 
former soluble in cold water, the latter requiring boiling water. It 
contains also asparagin or nialamide, a principle found in aspar- 
agus shoots and other plants. 

Uses. — Marshmallow decoction is employed as a demulcent 
in inflammatory and irritated conditions of the mucous mem- 
branes of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary organs, and 
poultices made of the bruised or powered root are used exter- 
nally. 

SESAMUM — BENNE. 

This is the product of Sesamum Indicum and Sesamum Ori- 
entale (Nat. Ord. Bignonige), annual plants, growing to the 
height of four or five feet, with ovate-lanceolate, lobed leaves, 
reddish-white axillary flowers, and an oblong capsule containing 



LIQUORICE EOOT. 357 

small, oval, yellowish seeds. They are natives of India, but 
are now raised in Asia, Egypt, Italy, and also in South Caro- 
lina, and in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. The seeds 
contain a fixed oil, and the leaves yield to cold water a large 
Quantity of mucilage, resembling that of sassafras pith. This 
is a highly esteemed demulcent drink, used in cholera infantum 
and infantile bowel-complaints. The seeds are eaten as food by 
the negroes in Carolina, in broths, puddings, &c. The OIL 
{oleum sesami), which is inodorous, of a bland, sweetish taste, 
and keeps well, may be used internally or externally as a sub- 
stitute for olive oil. 



GLYCYRRHIZA LIQUORICE ROOT. 

This is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra (Nat. Ord. Fabaceae), 
a small, herbaceous, perennial plant, of the 'countries around 
the Mediterranean. It is imported from Sicily and Spain ; and 
a portion of the Sicilian root is said to be the product of G. 
echinata. As found in the shops, liquorice root is in long, 
wrinkled pieces, often worm-eaten, varying from a few lines to 
more than an inch in thickness, externally grayish-brown, 
internally yellowish, without smell, and of a sweet, mucilagi- 
nous, sometimes slightly acrid taste. The best pieces are of 
the brighest yellow internally. The powder is grayish-yellow, 
or, if it is powdered with the epidermis removed, pale sulphur- 
yellow. The constituents of liquorice root are, a peculiar, 
transparent yellow, sweetish substance, termed glycyrrhizin 
(which is scarcely soluble in cold water, but soluble in boiling 
water and alcohol, and is insusceptible of the vinous fermenta- 
tion), starch, albumen, an acrid resin, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — A decoction of liquorice root (a troy- 
ounce boiled for a few minutes in water Oj), is a useful demul- 
cent in dysenteric, catarrhal, and nephritic affections ; it is also 
added to decoctions of acrid substances, to cover their taste 
and acridity. It should be made of the root, deprived of its 
cortical part, which is acrid and without demulcent virtues ; by 



358 MATERIA MEDICA. 

long boiling, the acrid resin is extracted. The powder is used 
in making pills (see p. 28). 

Extr actum GLYCYRRHiZiE (Liquorice), is made by the evapo- 
ration of a decoction of the half-dried root. It comes to this 
country chiefly from Leghorn and Messina, and in part, also, 
from Spain ; good liquorice is prepared, too, in New York and 
in England. Crude liquorice, when good, occurs in black, flat- 
tened, cylindrical rolls, about an inch in diameter, which are 
dry, brittle, with a shining fracture, of a very sweet, peculiar, 
slightly acrid taste, and are quite soluble in water. It is, how- 
ever, much sophisticated, and for internal use is, generally, 
refined, by dissolving the impure extract in water, without 
ebullition, straining the solution, and evaporating; sugar is 
often mixed with it, and sometimes mucilage or glue. Refined 
liquorice is in small cylindrical pieces, not thicker than a pipe- 
stem. Liquorice is a pleasant demulcent, much used as an 
addition to cough mixtures and lozenges, and to acrid infusions 
and decoctions. Mistura Grlycyrrhizw Composita [Compound 
Mixture of liquorice), commonly called Brown Mixture, con- 
sists of liquorice, gum arabic, sugar, each half a troyounce ; 
paregoric, f§ij ; antimonial wine, foj ; sweet spirit of nitre, 
f§ss ; water, f§xij ; close, f§ss. Liquorice enters into the com- 
position of several troches already noticed. 



CETRARIA — ICELAND MOSS. 

Cetraria Islandica, or Iceland Moss (Nat. Ord. Lichenaceae), 
is a foliaceous, erect lichen, from two to four inches high, found 
in the northern latitudes and mountainous districts of the new 
and old continents. It is principally obtained from Norway 
and Iceland ; and, as found in the shops, consists of irregularly 
lobed and channeled coriaceous leaves, fringed at their edges 
with rigid hairs, of a brownish or grayish-white colour, darker 
on the upper surface, and sometimes marked with blood-red 
spots. It is almost odourless, and has a bitter, mucilaginous 
taste ; its powder is whitish-gray. It gives up its virtues to 



IRISH MOSS. 359 

boiling water, and consists chiefly of a kind of amylaceous 
matter (which is coloured blue by iodine, and is termed Uchenin), 
and a bitter principle, termed cetrarin, which yields cetraric 
acid ; it contains, besides, other principles. 

Effects and Uses. — Iceland moss is a demulcent tonic, and 
is also highly nutritious. It is adapted to cases requiring a 
light aliment combined with a mild and acceptable tonic ;- and, 
from its demulcent properties, has a soothing influence in inflam- 
mations of the various mucous membranes. It is chiefly used 
in chronic affections of the pulmonary, and digestive organs, in 
the form of decoction [decoctum cetrarice), (half a troyounce boiled 
in water enough to make a pint), which may be taken ad libitum. 
By maceration in water or a w^eak alkaline solution, Iceland moss 
may be deprived of its bitter principle ; and it is then used as 
a mild nutritive demulcent. 



CHONDRUS — IRISH MOSS. 

Chondrus crispus., Carrageen or Irish moss (Nat. Ord. Al- 
gacese), is a marine alga, found chiefly on the west coast of 
Ireland, where it is prepared for use by washing, bleaching, 
and drying. As found in the shops, it consists of fronds, from 
two to three or four inches long, mostly yellowish or dirty- 
white, but intermixed with purplish-red portions, nearly inodor- 
ous, and of a mucilaginous taste. It swells up in warm water, 
and is almost entirely dissolved when boiled. Its chief consti- 
tuent is a peculiar mucilaginous principle, for which the term 
carrageenin has been proposed ; and it contains also some mucus, 
resins, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — It is a very agreeable nutritive demul- 
cent, useful in bowel-complaints and pectoral affections. It 
may be given in the form of decoction (half a troyounce to 
water, Ojss, boiled to Oj) flavoured with lemon-juice and sugar ; 
or it may be made with milk or cream into blanc-mange, which 
forms an excellent light diet for the sick. 



360 MATERIA MEDICA. 



M A R A N T A — A RROW-ROOT. 

Arrow-root is a fecula, obtained from the rhizome of Maranta 
arundinacea (Nat. Ord. Marantacese), a perennial herbaceous 
plant, of the height of two or three feet, originally found in the 
West.Indies, and now cultivated in both the West and East Indies, 
Georgia, Florida, Ceylon, and Sierra Leone. Other plants also 
furnish some of the arrow-root of commerce. The root of M. 
arundinacea is a white, fleshy, scaly, articulated, cylindrical 
tuber, from six inches to a foot or more in length, furnished 
with long fibres, and giving origin to several tuberous stoles, 
similar to itself. It consists principally of fecula or starch, 
which is extracted from the roots, when they are about a year 
old : they are washed and beaten into a pulp, which is stirred 
in water, and the fibrous part wrung out by the hands ; the 
milky liquor is strained and suffered to settle, and the subsiding 
mass is dried in the sun. It occurs in the form of a light, 
opaque, white powder, or small pulverulent masses, without 
odour or taste ; and is brought to our market chiefly from the 
West Indies, and to some amount, also, from Georgia and 
Florida. The preferred kind is that which comes from Ber- 
muda. 

Arrow-root is a pure starch, insoluble in cold water. Its 
peculiar characteristic is the structure and appearance of its 
granules, token viewed under a microscope ; and this affords the 
best means of distinguishing it from other feculae. which are 
mixed with or sold for it. The granules of the genuine arrow-root 
are ovate-oblong, irregularly convex, with fine rings, a hilum or 
central cavity, and often short processes or spines. 

Effects and Uses. — Arrow-root is a valuable nutritive de- 
mulcent, forming a very pleasant light diet in bowel-complaints 
and pulmonary and urinary affections. It is also much used as 
an article of food for infants. It is prepared by mixing a 
tablespoonful with a little cold water until it is reduced to a 
paste, and then gradually adding a pint of boiling water or 
milk, or due proportions of each, stirring the mixture at the 



TAPIOCA. 361 

same time. Lemon-juice and sugar, or wine and spices may 
be added, according to the indication. It is generally made 
with milk, when used as a diet for infants. 



CANNA. 

Canna (known also by the French name of Tons Les Mbis), is 
a fecula prepared from the rhizome of an undetermined species 
of canna, generally believed, however, to be C. edulis. It 
comes from the West Indies and Central America, and occurs 
in the form of a light, very white powder, of a shining appear- 
ance. Its granules are longer than those of any other variety 
of starch, and are ovate or oblong, with numerous regular, un- 
equally distant rings. It is used and prepared like arrow-root. 



TAPIOCA. 

This is the fecula of the root of Janipha Manihot (Nat. 
Ord. Euphorbiacese), a South American shrub, some six or 
eight feet in height, cultivated also in the West Indies, where 
it is termed the cassava plant. The root is a very large, white, 
fleshy tuber, and is found under two varieties, the sweet and 
bitter ; the latter contains an acrid, poisonous juice, which is 
however, volatile, and dissipated by heat. Tapioca is obtained 
from the expressed juice of both varieties, from which it is de- 
posited as & starchy powder; it is afterwards dried .by heat, 
which causes the starch-grains to swell and agglomerate into 
small masses or lumps. It occurs in the form of irregular, 
hard, white, rough grains, of little taste, and partially soluble 
in cold water. In boiling water it swells up, and forms a 
transparent jelly-like mass, which constitutes an admirable 
demulcent article of diet, applicable to the same cases as arrow- 
root. 



362 MATEKIA MEDICA. 



SAGO. 

Sago is the prepared fecula of the pith of Sagus Rumphii, 
or the Sago Paltn, and of other species of Sagus (Nat. Ord. 
Palmacese), small trees of the Moluccas and other East India 
Islands. The immature stems contain a great mass of spongy 
medullary matter, which is extracted in the state of a coarse 
powder; this is mingled with water, and the mixture, upon 
standing, deposits the insoluble farina, which, when dried, con- 
stitutes sago. The sago of commerce is prepared by forming 
the meal into a paste with water, and rubbing it into grains. 
It is refined at Malacca and Singapore, so as to give the grains 
a fine pearly lustre, and in this state is called pearl sago. 
Pearl Sago is the preferred variety, and is that which is now 
in general use. It is in small grains, about the size of a pin's 
head, hard, whitish, of a light-brown colour, inodorous, and 
nearly tasteless. Common Sago is in larger, duller, browner 
grains, often mixed with a dirty-looking powder. 

Sago is, chemically, a starch. Common Sago is insoluble in 
cold water ; but pearl sago is partly dissolved by it, owing to 
the heat which it has undergone. The only use of sago is as a 
bland, unirritating article of diet. It should be boiled some 
time in water (or milk, if preferred), and carefully stirred, to 
insure the thorough solution of the grains; the solution, after 
being strained, may be flavoured with sugar, lemon-juice, wine, 
or spices, according to the requirements of the case. 



HORDEU M — B ARLBY. 

Barley, as prepared for medicinal use, consists of the decor- 
ticated seed of Hordeum distichon, and other species of Hor- 
deum (Nat. Ord. Graminacese) ; well-known grains, supposed 
to be derived from Tartary, and now in cultivation in most 
parts of the world. The seeds are oval, oblong, marked with 
a longitudinal furrow, of a yellowish colour externally, white 
within, a faint odour, and a mild, sweetish taste. They con- 



rice. 363 

tain starch, gluten, gum, sugar, and a peculiar principle 
termed hordein, analogous to lignin. 

When made to germinate by warmth and moisture, and after- 
wards baked to deprive them of vitality, barley-seeds are termed 
malt; this process increases the nutritious properties of the 
grain, by increasing the proportions of sugar, starch, and gum, 
at the expense of the hordein. Deprived of its husk, the grain 
is termed hulled barley, and hulled barley, when ground, is 
barley meal. Pearl Barley is the grain with all the invest- 
ments removed, and afterwards rounded and polished in a mill; 
it is thus freed from its fibrous matter, and is the only fit form 
for medicinal use. It consists of small, white, oval grains, with 
a dark longitudinal furrow on one side, and yields its virtues 
to boiling water. In the form of decoction, and suitably 
flavoured, it makes an exceedingly bland, demulcent, nutritive 
drink, in fevers and inflammatory cases; (two troyounces, pre- 
viously washed with cold water, are mixed with water Oss, and 
boiled for a short time; this water should be thrown away, and 
Oiv boiling hot are poured upon the barley, and boiled to Oij). 
A decoction of malt is more nutritious ; mixed with hops, it is 
termed ivort. 

Avem: Farina {Oatmeal), — the meal, prepared from the 
seed of Avena Sativa (Nat. Ord. Graminacese), — furnishes a 
pleasant diet for the sick, more nutritious than the pure 
starches, as it contains 3 per cent, of albumen with 72.8 per 
cent, of starch. It has a slight laxative influence on the bowels, 
and is often administered to assist the action of cathartics. 
Oatmeal gruel is prepared by boiling from one to two troy- 
ounces of the meal in three pints of water to a quart, straining 
the decoction, allowing it to stand till it cools, and then pour- 
ing off the clear liquor from the sediment. It may be flavoured 
with sugar, and lemon-juice or raisins. 

Oryza (Bice), — the fruit of Oryza Sativa (Nat. Ord. Gra- 
minacese), containing about 85 per cent of starch, and nearly 
4 per cent, of gluten, is an excellent demulcent diet for the 



364 MATERIA MEDICA. 

sick, in affections of the bowels. Rice-water, made by boiling 
a troyounce in a pint of water for an hour, may be used as a 
drink. 

Salep — the prepared bulbs of Orchis mascula (Nat. Ord. 
Orchidaceae), consists of small, oval, hard, heavy, semi-trans- 
parent masses, of a yellowish colour, a feeble odour, and a mild 
mucilaginous taste. It contains, like tragacanth, two gums 
(one insoluble, the other soluble), and also starch. It is de- 
mulcent and highly nutritive, and is used in the same way as 
tapioca, sago, &c. The Castillon powders, consisting of salep, 
sago, and tragacanth (in powder), each a drachm, prepared 
oyster-shell a scruple, and cochineal enough to give colour to 
the mixture, constitute an excellent article of diet in bowel 
complaints. A drachm may be taken boiled in a pint of milk. 
• 

Amylum (Starch), a proximate principle, pervading the 
vegetable kingdom, is used in solution as a demulcent to irri- 
tated surfaces, as a vehicle for anodyne enemata, as an antidote 
for iodine, and, in powder, as a desiccant. The stakcii of the 
Pharmacopoeia is t'he fecula of the seed of Triticum vulgare, 
the familiar wheat (Nat. Ord. Graminacese). 

Gelatin a (Gelatin), a solid, transparent, corneous substance, 
obtained from the bones and other tissues of animals (soluble 
in boiling water, and forming, on cooling, a transparent jelly), 
may be noticed with demulcents. When dried, it is found in 
the form of whitish, or yellowish, semi-transparent, hard and 
tough, tasteless, inodorous strips. It is used to make soups 
and jellies for the sick, but it is not of easy digestion, and it 
does not nourish the nitrogenous tissues. In solution, it has 
been used as an enema in dysentery and hemorrhoids. And 
in pharmacy, it is employed to make capsules for the adminis- 
tration of disagreeable liquid medicines, and as a coating for 
pills. 

Ichthyocolla (Isinglass), prepared from the swimming 
bladder of Acipenser huso (the sturgeon), and of other fishes, 



OIL OF THEOBKOMA. 365 

is the purest form of gelatin. Court-plaster is made by coating 
oiled silk with a solution of isinglass. 

For external use, the animal fats are employed as emollients. 

Adeps (Lard), is the prepared fat of sus scrofa (the hog). 
Below the temperature of 90°, it occurs as a soft, white solid, 
which, for medicinal use, should be free from saline matter. It 
is used in pharmacy as an addition to poultices, and as an in- 
unction in the exanthemata, particularly scarlatina. Cerate 
(ceratum) (formerly termed simple cerate), is made by melting 
together two parts of lard and one part of white wax. JJnguen-. 
turn (ointment), is made by melting together four parts of lard 
and one part of yellow wax. Lard oil (the olein of lard), is a 
good vehicle for anodyne enemata. 

Sevum (Suet), is the prepared fat of ovis aries (the sheep). 

Cetaceum (Spermaceti), is a peculiar concrete substance, 

obtained from Physeter macrocephalus (the spermaceti whale). 

Spermaceti cerate (ceratum cetacei), is made by melting together 

one part of spermaceti and three parts of white wax, and then 

adding five parts of olive oil, previously heated. 

Cera Flava (Yelloiv Wax), is a peculiar concrete sub- 
stance, prepared by Apis mellifica (the honey bee). 

Cera Alba ( White Wax), is yellow wax bleached. They 
are chiefly used in making cerates, ointments, and plasters. 



OLEUM THEOBROMJ — OIL OF THEOBROMA. 

This oil, commonly known us butter of cacao, is the concrete 
oil of the kernels of the fruit of Theobroma Cacao (Nat. 
Ord. Sterculiaceae), a handsome tree, from twelve to twenty 
feet in height, growing in Mexico, the West Indies, Central 
America, and South America. The fruit is an ovate-oblong 



366 MATERIA MEDICA. 

capsule or berry, half a foot in length, with a thick, coriaceous, 
ligneous rind, inclosing a whitish pulp, in which numerous 
ovate seeds are imbedded, about the size of an almond. Sepa- 
rated from the matter in which they are enveloped, these con- 
stitute the chocolate-nuts of commerce (see p. 96). They con- 
tain fixed oil (cacao butter), theobromia, and other matters. 
Theobromia is a nitrogenous alkaloid, analogous to caffeina. 
Cacao butter is obtained by expression, decoction, or the action 
of a solvent. It occurs in whitish or yellowish oblong cakes, 
of the consistence of tallow, and of an agreeable odour and 
taste. It contains a large proportion of stearin, also palmitin 
and olein. It is used in pharmacy for coating pills, and also 
largely in preparing suppositories, for which it is well adapted 
from its consistence and blandness. 



GLYCERIN A — GLYCERIN. 

This is a substance which exists in oils in combination with 
the fatty acids (stearic, margaric, oleic, &c), and is liberated 
from them, when they unite with bases in the process of saponi- 
fication. It is usually obtained in the process for making lead 
plaster, by mixing litharge (oxide of lead) with olive oil and 
boiling water, by which the fatty acid unites with the lead, and 
is precipitated, and the glycerin remains in solution. It is 
freed from any lead it may contain by means of a stream of 
sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and is afterwards filtered through 
animal charcoal ; or it may be made more directly by blowing 
steam through fat, which causes a separation of the glycerin 
and fatty acids. It is a thick, syrupy liquid, colourless or straw- 
coloured, unctuous to the touch, inodorous, and of a sharp, 
sweet taste. When pure, its sp. gr. is 1.26, when it contains 
98 per cent, of anhydrous glycerin ; the Pharmacopoeia directs 
its sp. gr. to be 1.25. It is soluble in oils, alcohol, and water, 
but is insoluble in ether and chloroform. It is a very general 
solvent, and does not evaporate when exposed to the air, but 
absorbs one half its weight of water. Officinal solutions of 



COLLODION. 367 

medicinal substances in glycerin are termed glycerites (gly- 
cerita). 

Effects and Uses. — Glycerin is a bland and unirritating sub- 
stance. It has the capacity of diffusing itself freely over and 
through organic matter, incorporating itself between organic 
molecules, by which it is absorbed and appropriated. It may 
be used internally as a nutrient and demulcent, and is particu- 
larly efficacious in cachectic, strumous, and asthenic conditions 
in children ; but it is as a topical application that it is chiefly 
employed. As an enema in dysentery, to soften hardened 
mucus in the air-passages, in various cutaneous affections, in 
diphtheria, in deafness attended with dryness of the meatus, 
and as a vehicle or solvent for active medicines, glycerin is a 
valuable article. The name plasma is applied to a compound 
of glycerin (fsi) and starch (grs. 70), mixed at 240° F. ; this 
is used as a substitute for ointments, and is a good excipient 
for pills. 

PYROXYLOX. 

Pyroxylon, or Soluble Gun Cotton, is made by adding 
half a troyounce of cotton, freed from impurities, to a mixture 
of 3 \ troyounces of nitric acid gradually added to 4 troy ounces 
of sulphuric acid, and allowing it to macerate for 15 hours ; it 
is to be washed first with cold water, and then with boiling 
water, and, after being drained on filtering paper, it is dried 
by means of a water-bath. Pyroxylon has the appearance of 
ordinary cotton, but is harsh to the touch. It is insoluble in 
water, nearly so in alcohol, but, when freshly prepared, it dis- 
solves in ether, forming collodion ; it is liable to decomposition 
if kept for some time. 

COLLODIU M — C L L D 1 N. 

This is a solution of pyroxylon (200 grains), in stronger 
ether (12J- fluidounces), and stronger alcohol (3J fluidounces). 
Collodion is a slightly opalescent, syrupy liquid, with a strong 



868 MATERIA MEDICA. 

ethereal smell. By long standing, it deposits a layer of fibrous 
matter, and becomes more transparent ; this layer should be 
reincorporated by agitation, before the collodion is used. 
When applied to the skin, the solvent evaporates and it forms 
a colourless, transparent, flexible, and strongly contractile film. 
In this way it proves antiphlogistic, by driving the blood away 
from a part, limiting effusion, and promoting absorption, and 
at the same time, acts as an admirable emollient by protecting 
an inflamed surface from the action of the air. It is a useful 
application to ulcers, fissures, and skin diseases, and erysipe- 
latous parts. It is used also in surgery as a substitute for 
adhesive plaster, and in pharmacy as a vehicle for other medi- 
icines. Iodized collodion (a very good solution of iodine for 
external application), contains from ten to twenty grains of 
iodine in a fluidounce of collodion. Collodion containing 
tannic acid (gr. xx-fgi), is a good styptic application. 

Collodium Flexile (Flexible Collodion) is made by mixing 
a pint of collodion, 820 grains of Canada turpentine, and 160 
grains of castor oil. This is a softer, more pliable, and more 
elastic preparation, useful in cases where the strongly con- 
tractile power of ordinary collodion is objectionable. Collo- 
dion, in all forms, is to be kept in well-stoppered bottles. 



LIQUOR GUTTA-PERCHA — SOLUTION OF GUTTA- 
PERCHA. 

This is a solution of a troyounce and half of gutta-percha 
in 17 troyounces of purified chloroform. In preparing it, car- 
bonate of lead is employed to free it from colouring matter. 
It is a clear, colourless, or nearly colourless solution, and 
should be kept in well-stoppered glass vials. By the evapora- 
tion of the chloroform, this proves an admirable application to 
inflamed or abraded parts in skin affections, chaps, &c. ; also 
an excellent protective coating to parts threatened with bed- 
sores or liable to excoriation. 



SUGAR OF MILK. 369 



FERMEXTU M — Y EAST. 



This well-known product of fermentation is a flocculent', 
frothy, somewhat viscid substance, of a dirty-yellowish colour, 
a sour, vinous odour, and a bitter taste. It is insoluble in 
alcohol or water. Its most important characteristic is its 
power of exciting the vinous fermentation in saccharine and 
starchy liquids. It is occasionally used in low fevers, attended 
with irritability of the stomach, in the dose of fSss-ij, every 
two or three hours, which sometimes proves laxative. Exter- 
nally, it is added to farinaceouspoultices, applied to sloughing 
ulcers. 



MEL — HONEY. 

This saccharine liquid, the familiar product of the bee (Apis 
mellifica), best used in the form of Mel Despumatum (Clarified 
Honey,) is a slightly laxative article of food, and is used in 
pharmacy, and as an agreeable demulcent ingredient in gargles. 

Saccharum (Sugar), the sugar of saccharum officinarum, 
and Syrupes Fuscus (Molasses), are pleasant demulcents, use- 
ful in slight catarrhal affections, and entering in endless variety 
of combination into most domestic and medicinal remedies for 
this class of affections. Their pharmaceutical uses are manifold; 
the preservative action of sugar is of inestimable advantage in 
this branch of the Materia Medica. 

Saccharum Lactis (Sugar of Milk), the saccharine principle 
of milk, obtained from whey, is used as a bland non-nitrogenous 
article of diet. By fermentation, sugar of milk gives rise to 
lactic acid (acidum lacticum), a limpid, syrupy liquid, of a pale- 
wine colour, which has been used in certain forms of dyspepsia, 
and for the removal of phosphatic deposits in the urine, in the 
dose of 5i— iij during the day. 

24 



370 MATERIA MEDICA. 

CAR BO L I G N I — CHARCOAL. 

Although not strictly ranking with demulcents, the medicinal 
uses of charcoal may, perhaps, be appropriately noticed under 
this head. Charcoal is prepared by the exposure of wood to a 
red heat without access of air. For medicinal purposes, the 
charcoal prepared from young willow-shoots, for the manufac- 
ture of gunpowder, is preferred. It is a black, shining, brittle, 
porous substance, without odour or taste, and insoluble in 
water. 

Effects and Uses. — It is employed internally as an absorbent 
of acrid secretions in dyspepsia (in which it is often very useful), 
in gastric irritation, diarrhoea, and dysentery ; dose, from one 
to four teaspoonfuls. Externally, it is used with effect to 
absorb the offensive gases given off by foul sores, in the form of 
poultice, mixed with flaxseed meal, or with bread-crumb, which 
is better, from its porosity ; dry charcoal is sprinkled with ad- 
vantage over sloughing ulcers and appears to promote the sepa- 
ration of the sloughs. 

ORDER III. — COLOURING AGENTS. 

These are employed exclusively for pharmaceutical pur- 
poses. The following articles enter into officinal preparations, 
to which they are intended to communicate their peculiar 
colour. 

CROCUS — SAFFRON. 

This is the stigmas of Crocus Sativus (Nat. Ord. Iridacese), 
a small perennial plant, the native country of which is Greece 
and Asia Minor, but now cultivated all over Europe and in our 
own country. In Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, it has been 
raised to considerable extent. The stigmas are an inch or more 
in length, of a rich deep-orange colour, a peculiar aromatic 
odour, and a warm, pungent, bitter taste. 

Saffron is now admitted to possess little, if any, medicinal 



ANTHELMINTICS. 371 

activity, and is used only to impart colour and flavour to offici- 
nal preparations. 

SANTALUM — RED SAUNDERS. 

This is the wood of Pterocarpus Santalinus, a large tree of 
India and Ceylon (Nat. Ord. Fabacese). It comes in roundish 
or angular billets, internally of a blood-red colour, externally 
brown, of little smell or taste; in the shops, it is found in the 
form of chips, raspings, or coarse powder. It is employed 
solely to give colour to spirits and tinctures. 

COCCUS — COCHINEAL. 

This is an insect, termed Coccus Cacti, of Mexico and Central 
America, naturalized in Teneriffe and other places. The female 
insect, dried, constitutes the article of the shops. It occurs in 
the form of roundish or somewhat angular grains, about an eighth 
of an inch in diameter, convex on one side, concave or flat on the 
other, and wrinkled. Two varieties are distinguished, one red- 
dish-gray, the other nearly black, known as silver grains and 
black grains. It has a faint heavy odour, and a bitter, slightly 
acidulous taste. 

Cochineal has had antispasmodic virtues attributed to it, and 
has been used in whooping-cough, especially in combination 
with carbonate of potassium ; dose, to infants, a third of a grain 
three times a day. It is chiefly employed, however, to colour 
tinctures and ointments. 

ORDER IV. — ANTHELMINTICS. 

Anthelmintics are medicines which promote the expulsion of 
worms from the alimentary canal. They act in different ways ; 
some weaken or destroy the worms by a direct poisonous influ- 
ence, others by mechanical means ; the drastic cathartics have 
an anthelmintic effect, from the increased secretion and exhala- 
tion which they induce from the alimentary canal. 



372 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



SPIGELIA. 



Spigelia, called also pinkroot, is the root of Spigelia Maril- 
andica, or Carolina Pink {Nat. Ord. Spigeliacese), an herbace- 



Fis:. 26. 




ous, indigenous plant, found chiefly in our Southern and South- 
western States. The root is perennial, and consists of a num- 
ber of slender fibres; the stems are numerous, from a foot to a 



SPIGELIA. 37 







foot and a half high, of a purplish colour, furnished with sessile, 
opposite, ovate-lanceolate leaves, and terminate in spikes, bear- 
ing carmine-coloured, funnel-shaped flowers, which appear from 
May to July. The root, as found in the shops, consists of 
numerous slender, wrinkled, branching, brownish fibres, attached 
to a dark-brown caudex, and has a faint peculiar smell, and a 
sweetish, slightly bitter taste; its activity is diminished by time. 
Boiling water extracts its virtues, which are thought to depend 
upon a hitter principle ; it contains also volatile oil, resin, and 
other matters. 

Effects and Uses. — In ordinary doses, Spigelia often proves 
anthelmintic without any sensible effect on the system. In 
larger doses, it purges and sometimes vomits ; and, in excessive 
doses, it operates as a narcotic poison, producing vertigo, 
dilated pupils, convulsions, and death. It is less apt to occa- 
sion narcotic effects when it acts on the bowels, and hence it is 
usually combined with or followed by cathartics. As an 
anthelmintic against lumbrici, it is considered the most reliable 
article we possess. 

Administration. — Dose of the powdered root, 5i-ij, for an 
adult; for a child three or four years old, gr. x-xx, to be re- 
peated night and morning, for three or four days, and followed 
by a brisk cathartic; calomel is sometimes combined with it. 
The infusion is the usual form of administration (half a troy- 
ounce to boiling water Oj, with frequently senna half a troy- 
ounce) ; dose f 5ss-j for a child two or three years old, f§iv— viij 
for an adult, night and morning. The fluid extract contains in 
a fluidounce a troyounce of spigelia — dose, for a child two years 
old, ten drops. The fluid extract of Spigelia and Senna (made 
by mixing 10 fluidounces of fluid extract of spigelia with 6 
fluidounces of fluid extract of senna, and dissolving, in the 
mixture, 20 minims of the oils of anise and caraway, each), 
is a pleasant preparation ; dose, f 533 for an adult, f 5j for a 
child. 



374 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



CHENOPODIU M — W ORMSEED. 

Wormseed is the fruit of Chencpodiuui anthelminticum, or 
Jerusalem Oak (Nat. Ord. Chenopodiaceoe), an indigenous, 

Fiff. 27. 




herbaceous, perennial plant, from two to five feet high, with 
alternate, oblong-lanceolate, sinuated and toothed, yellowish- 
green leaves, with numerous small flowers of the same colour, 
arranged in long terminal panicles. Wormseed, as found in 
the shops, is in small spherical grains, not larger than a pin's 
head, of a dull, greenish-yellow or brownish colour, a peculiar 
offensive smell, and a rather aromatic, pungent taste. Their 



SANTONICA. 375 

sensible and medicinal properties are owing to a volatile oil 
(Oleum Chenopodii), obtained by distillation. 

Effects and Uses. — Wormseed is a very efficient anthelmin- 
tic, particularly adapted to the expulsion of lumbrici from 
children. Dose, 3i-ij for a child two or three years old, in 
molasses, night and morning, for three or four days, to be fol- 
lowed by a brisk cathartic. The oil is more used than the 
fruit ; dose, gtt. v-x for a child, in emulsion with sugar. The 
expressed juice of the leaves, and a decoction made with milk, 
are also used. 



SANTONICA. 

The unexpanded flowers of Artemisia Cina and of other 
species of Artemisia, are used in Europe as an anthelmintic (in 
the dose of 10 to 30 grains), under the name of Levant Worm- 
seed. They contain volatile oil, resin, and a peculiar principle, 
termed Santonin — Santoninum, which is made by digesting 
santonica and lime in diluted alcohol, adding acetic acid, crys- 
tallizing, boiling with alcohol, digesting the tincture with animal 
charcoal, filtering, and crystallizing. It occurs in colourless, 
shining, flattened prisms, without smell, nearly tasteless at first, 
but after a time bitter; it becomes yellow on exposure to the 
light. It is nearly insoluble in cold water, soluble in 250 parts 
of boiling water, in 43 parts of cold and 3 parts of boiling 
alcohol, and in 75 parts of ether. This is the anthelmintic 
constituent of Santonica, and is much employed. Dose, 2 or 
3 grains, two or three times a day, in the form of syrup. 
Troches of Santonin (trochisci santonini), are made by rubbing 
together half a troyounce of santonin and tragacanth each, and 
eighteen troyounces of sugar, and then, with orange flower 
water forming a mass, to be divided into 480 troches, each 
troche containing half a grain of santonin. 



376 MATERIA MEDICA. 



AZEDARACH. 

This is the bark of the root of Melia Azedarach, or Pride 
of China (Nat. Ord. Meliaceas), an Asiatic tree, cultivated ex- 
tensively as an ornamental tree in our Southern States. It 
has a bitter, nauseous- taste, and yields its virtues to boiling 
water ; but, as it is used only in the recent state, it is not found 
in our shops. Its effects are said to resemble those of Spigelia. 
The decoction is the preferred form of administration (four 
troyounces to water Oij, boiled to Oj) ; dose for a child fgss, 
every two or three hours, till it affects the stomach and bowels ; 
or night and morning for several days. 



MUCUN A — C OWHAGE. 

The hairs of the pods of Mucuna pruriens (Nat. Ord. Fa- 
bacese), a West India perennial climbing plant, act as an an- 
thelmintic, by a mechanical penetration of the worms. The 
PODS are about four inches long, shaped like the Italic letter f, 
and are covered with brown bristly hairs, which, when 
handled, stick in the fingers, and produce an intense itching. 
For administration, the pods are dipped into syrup or molasses, 
and the hairs scraped off with the liquid, which should have the 
consistence of thick honey. Dose, a tablespoonful for an adult, 
a teaspoonful for a child, night and morning, for several days, 
and followed bv a cathartic. 



FILIX MAS — MALE FERN. 

Aspidium Filix Mas, or Male Fern (Nat. Ord. Filicales), is 
an indigenous plant, common to all parts of the world, with a 
perennial, horizontal root, from which spring numerous annual, 
oval, lanceolate, acute, bright-green pinnate fronds or leaves, 
from a foot to four feet in height; the leaflets are deeply lobate, 
oval, crenate at their edges, and gradually diminish from the 
base of the pinna to the apex. The rhizome is the portion 



koosso. 377 

used. It is a long, cylindrical caudex, covered with portions of 
the stipes, and, as found in the shops, it is generally broken into 
fragments, of a brown colour externally, internally yellowish- 
white or reddish, with a peculiar feeble odour, and a sweetish, 
bitter, astringent, nauseous taste. It deteriorates by keeping. 
It contains volatile oil, fixed oil, resin, tannic and gallic acids, 
&c, &c. Its virtues are supposed to reside in the ethereal ex- 
tract, which is the fixed oil in an impure state, containing 
volatile oil, resin, colouring matter, &c. 

Effects and Uses. — Male fern possesses tonic and astringent 
properties; but its chief use is to cause the expulsion of taenia, 
which it destroys by a specific action. Its efficacy in this re- 
spect has been long and well attested. Dose, of the powder, 
5i-iij, in electuary or emulsion, night and morning, for one 
or two days; of the ethereal extract, gr. x-xx, repeated; and in 
both cases' a cathartic is to be afterwards given. 

GRAN ATI RADICIS CORTEX— BARK OF POMEGRANATE 

ROOT. 

The bark of the root of Punica granatuni (see p. 158), is 
used for the expulsion of taenia. It is a powerful styptic, and 
may act in this way. It is given in decoction (two troy ounces 
to water Oij, boiled to Oj), dose, f.5ij, or more. 

Oleum Terebinthinje (Oil of Turpentine), (see p. 271), is 
used as a remedy for taenia and other worms. Dose, f§j, com- 
bined with or followed by castor oil. 

Calomel (see p. 293), is a valuable anthelmintic, given in 
cathartic doses. 

Brayera (Koosso). The flowers and unripe fruit of 
Brayera anthelmintica (Nat. Ord. Rosaceae), a native of Abys- 
sinia, have been introduced into European practice, as a remedy 
for taenia, under the name of koosso. The dried flowers occur 
in unbroken, compressed clusters, of a greenish-yellow colour, 



378 MATERIA MEDICA. 

a fragrant balsamic odour, and a faint taste, which after a time 
becomes acrid and disagreeable. They are said to impart their 
virtues best to hot water, and, to yield gum, resin, fatty matter, 
tannic acid, &c. They are best given upon an empty stomach, 
after a previous evacuation of the bowels, in the dose of half a 
troyounce of the 'powder, mixed with half a pint of warm water. 

ROTTLERA — KAMEELA. 

This is the glandular powder and hairs, obtained from the 
capsules of Rottlera tinctoria (Nat. Ord. Euphorbiacese), a 
small tree of Hindostan and the East India islands. It is an 
orange-red, granular, inflammable powder, with little smell or 
taste, insoluble in cold, and nearly so in boiling water ; soluble 
in boiling alcohol and ether. It consists chiefly of resinous 
substances, to one of which, soluble in ether, and considered 
the active constituent, the name of rottlerin has been given. 

Uses. — Kameela, or kamala, is a highly esteemed tseniacide 
in India, and has lately been introduced into Europe and our 
own country. Dose of the poivder, 3i — ij , A tincture (six 
troyounces to alcohol Oj), is given in the dose of f5i-iv. Castor 
oil should be taken after the medicine. 

PEPO — PUMPKIN SEED. 

The seed of Cucurbita pepo, or common pumpkin, is proba- 
bly the most efficacious remedy known in the expulsion of tape- 
worm. These seeds are oval, flattish, grooved, 9 lines long by 
5 or 6 in breadth, of a light brownish-white colour, a sweetish 
taste, and aromatic smell. They owe their activity to a prin- 
ciple, soluble in ether, chloroform, and especially alcohol. 
One or two troyounces of the fresh seeds, deprived of their 
outer envelope, beaten to a paste with finely powdered sugar, 
and diluted with water or milk, should be taken after a twenty- 
four hours' fast, and followed, in two or three hours, by a dose 
of castor oil. A fluid extract, made with alcohol and glycerin, 
is probably the best preparation. 



APPENDIX. 



SIGNS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN PRESCRIPTIONS. 

R, Recipe, take. 

aa, Ana, (ava), of each. 

ft>, Libra, librse, a pound, pounds. 

^, Uncia, uncise, an ounce, ounces. 

5, Drachma, drachmse, a drachm, drachms. 

9, Scrupulus, scrupuli, a scruple, scruples. 

0, Octarius, octarii, a pint, pints. 

f|, Fluiduncia, fluiduncise, a fluidounce, fluidounces. 

f5, Fluidrachma, fluidrachmse, a fluidrachm, fluidrachms. 

TT^, Minimum, minima, a minim, minims. 

Ad 2 Vic, Ad duas vices, at two takings. 

Ad Lib., Ad libitum. 

Add., Adde, Addantur, add, let be added. 

Altern. Horis, Alternis horis, every other hour. 

Aq. Destil., Aqua destillata, distilled water. 

Aq. Fery., Aqua fervens, hot water. 

Aq. Fluvial., Aquafluvialis, river water. 

Aq. Font., Aqua fontana, spring water. 

Aq. Pluv., Aqua pluvialis, rain water. 

Bis Ind., Bis indies, twice a day. 

Bull., Bulliat, bulliant, let it or them boil. 

Cap., Capiat, capiendum, let the patient take it, it must be taken. 

Chart., Chartula, chartulse, a small paper, or papers. 

Cochleat., Cochleatim, by spoonfuls. 

Coch. Mao., Cochleare magnum, a tablespoonful. 

Coch. Med., Cochleare medium, a desertspoonful. 

Coch. Parv., Cochleare parvum, a teaspoonful. 

Col., Cola, coletur, strain, let it be strained. 

Collyr., Collyrium, an eye-water. 

Comp., Compositus, compounded. » 

Cong., Congius, Congii, a gallon, gallons. 

C M. S., Cras mane sumendus, to be taken to-morrow morning. 

C. N., Cras nocte, to-morrow night. 

Decot., Decoctum, a decoction. 

De D. in D., De die in diem, from day to day. 



380 APPENDIX. 

Dieb. Alter., Diebus Alternis, every other day. 

Dil., Diluc, dilutus, dilute, diluted. 

Dim., Dimidius, one-half. 

Div., Divide, divide. 

D., Doses, a dose. 

Elec, Electuarium, an electuary. 

Enem., Enema, enemala, a clyster, clysters. 

Exhib., Ezhibeatur, let it be administered. 

F. H., Fiat haustus, let a draught be made. 

Fil., Filtra, filter. 

Ft., Fiat,fiant, let there be made. 

Garg., Gargarysma, a gargle. 

Gr., Granum, grana, a grain, grains. 

Gtt., Gutta, guitee, a drop, drops. 

Guttat., Guttatim, by drops. 

Haust., Haustus, a draught. 

Ind., Indies, daily. 

Inf., Infunde, pour in. 

Infus., Infusum, an infusion. 

Inj., Injiciatur, let it be injected. 

Jul., Jul epus, julep um, a julep. 

M., Misce, mix. 

Mane, in the morning. 

Mist., Mistura, a mixture. 

Mic. Pan., Mica panis, crumb of bread. 

No., Numero, in number. 

Omn. Hor., Omni liora, every hour. 

Omn. Bid., Omni biduo, every two days. 

Omn. Bin., Omni bihora, every two hours. 

Omn. Man., Omni mane, every. morning. 

Omn. Nocte, Omninocte, every night. 

Omn. Quadr. Hor., Omni quadrante horse, every quarter of an hour. 

Ph., Pharmacopoeia. 

Pocul., Foculum, a cup. 

P. R. N., Pro re natd, as the symptoms may call for. 

Pulv., Pulvis, a powder. 

Q. P., Quantum placeat , as much as you please. 

Q. S., Quantum sufficiat, enough. 

Quor., Quorum, of which. 

Redig. in Pulv., Redigatur in puloerem, let it be reduced to powder. 

Repet., Repetatur, repetantur, let it or them be repeated. 

S.j Signa, write. 

S. A., Secundum artem, according to art. 

Semiii., Semihora, half an hour. 

Sign., Signatura, a label. 

Ss., Semis, a half. 

Sum., Sume, sumendus, take, let it be taken. 

Tabel., Tabella, a lozenge. 

Troch., Trochiscus, a lozenge. 

Trit., Tritura, triturate. 



INDEX. 



Abbreviations, tables of, 379 
Abies balsamea, 270 

Canadensis, 337 

excelsa, 336 

picea, 336 
Abscesses, .application of medicines 

to, 42 
Absinthium, 111 

Absorption of medicines, 24, 25, 26 
Acacia, 351 

Arabica, 351 

catechu, 150 

gummifera, 352 

vera, 351 
Aceta, 32 

Acetate of Ammonium, solution of, 
203 

iron, 135 

lead, 165 

morphia, 53 

potassium, 25-4 

sodium, 255 

zinc, 138 
Acetic acid, 204 
Acetum, 204 

lobelia?, 66 

opii, 52 

scillse, 256 
Acida, mineralia, 143, 348 

vegetabilia, 204 
Acidum aceticum, 204 

arseniosum, 310, 347 

benzoicum, 279 

carbolicum, 161 

chromicum, 347 

citricum, 204 

gallicum, 149 

hydrocyanicum, 73 
dilutum, 73 

lacticum, 369 

muriaticum, 146 
dilutum, 146 

nitricum, 145 

dilutum, 145 

nitro-muriaticum, 146 
dilutum, 146 



Acidum oxalicum, 147 

sulphuricum, 143 

aromaticum, 144 
dilutum, 144 

sulphurosum, 144 

tannicum, 149 

tartaricum, 205 
Achillea, 114 

millefolium 114 
Acipenser huso, 364 
Aconite, 68 

leaves, 68 

root, 68 
Aconiti folia, 68 

radix, 68 
Aconitia, 68, 69 
Aconitum, 68 

Napellus, 68 
Acorus calamus, 184 
Acupuncture, 19 
Adeps, 365 
Adhesive plaster, 273. 
JEther, 81 

fortior, 81 
African kino, 151 

pepper, 177 
Agathotes chira}*ta, 107 
Age, influence of on medicinal ef- 
fects, 36 

on plants, 26 
Alcohol, 170 

dilutum, 172 

fortius, 171 
Alcoholic potassa, 346 
Alder, black, 125 
Ale, 173 

Alexandria senna, 235 
Allium, 268 

sativum, 268 
Allspice, 181 
Allyl, sulphuret of, 269 
Almond mixture, 353 
Aloe, 233 

Barbadensis, 233 

capensis, 233 

purificata, 234 



382 



INDEX. 



Aloe Socotrina, 233 

spicata, 233 

vulgaris, 233 
Aloes, 233 
Aloin, 234 

Alterative diaphoretics, 248 
Alteratives, 43, 284 
Althaea, 356 

officinalis, 356 
Alum, 168, 218, 348 

ammonio-ferric, 135 

dried, 168, 169 

whey, 169 
Alum-root, 160 
Alumen, 168 

exsiccatum, 169 
Aluminii sulphas, 169 
Amber, 98 
American centaury, 105 

columbo, 104 

hellebore, 192 

ipecacuanha, 2 IT 

poplar, 112 

senna, 237 

silver fir, 270 

spikenard, 250 
Amidogen, 298 
Ammonia, 173 

preparations of, 173 
Ammonia-alum, 168 
Ammoniac, 93 
Ammoniacum, 93 
Ammoniae aqua, 174, 336 

fortior, 174, 343 

linimentum, 336 

praeparata, 173 

spiritus, 174 

aromaticus, 174, 330 
Ammoniated copper, 137 

iron, 133 

mercury, 298 

tincture of guaiac, 251 
valerian, 94 

tinctures, 30 
Ammonii acetatis liquor, 203 

benzoas, 280 

carbonas, 175 

chloridum, 317 

hypophosphis, 317 

iodidum, 304 

phosphas, 313 

praeparata, 330 

sulphis, 145 

valerianas, 94 
Ammonio-citrate of iron, 135 
Ammonio-ferric alum, 135 
Amygdalus amara, 75 
Amyl, acetate of, 88 

hydruret of, 88 



Amyl, iodide of, 88 

nitrite of, 88 
Amylene, 88 
Amylic alcohol, 88 
Amylum, 364 

Anaesthetics, ethereal, 43, 81 
Anamirta cocculus, 80 
Angelica-tree, 250 
Angustura, 112 

false, 113, 206 
Anise, 189 

water, 189 

star, 189 
Anisum, 189 
Anodynes, 44 
Antacids, 43, 323 
Anthelmintics, 43, 371 
Anthemis, 109 

cotula, 110 

nobilis, 109 
Antilithics, 324 
Antimonial ointment, 197, 344 

powder, 198 

wine, 197 
Antimoniated hydrogen, 199 
Antimonii oxidum, 199 

et potassii tartras, 195 

oxysulphuretum, 198 

praeparata, 195 
Antimonium sulphuratum, 198 
Antimony, preparations of, 195 
Antispasmodics, 43, 90 
Apiol, 264 
Apocynin, 261 
Apocynum cannabinum, 260 
Apomorphia, 46 
Apothecaries' weight, 35 
Apples, 219 
Aqua, 350 

ammoniae, 174, 336 
fortior, 174, 343 

amygdalae amarse, 75 

aurantii florum, 187 

camphorae, 78 

chlorinii, 321 

cinnamomi, 179 

creasoti, 161 

rosae, 159 
Aquae, 29 
Arabin, 352 
Aralia nudicaulis, 250 

racemosa, 250 

spinosa, 250 
Arctostaphylos uva ursi, 156 
Argenti nitras, 140 

fusa, 141, 345 

oxidum, 141 

praeparata, 139 
Argol, 228 



INDEX. 



883 



Aristolochia reticulata, 108 

serpentaria, 107 
Arnica, 175 

montana, 175 
Arnicina, 176 
Aromatic confection, 184 

powder, 184 

spirit of ammonia, 174, 330 

sulphuric acid, 144 

syrup of rhubarb, 232 
Aromatics, 170, 177 
Arrack, 173 
Arrow-root, 360 
Arseniate of iron, 135 

sodium, 314 
Arsenic, 310 

acid, 310 

preparations of, 310 
Arsenici chloridi liquor, 315 

et hydrargyri iodidi liquor, 315 

iodidum, 315 

praeparata, 210 
Arsenious acid, 310, 347 
Arsenite of potassium, solution of, 

314 
Artanthe elongata, 276 
Artemisia absinthium, 111 

cina, 375 
Arteriotomy, 17 
Artificial camphor, 77 

musk, 98 
Asparagin, 356 
Aspidium Filix mas, 376 
Assafetida, 90 
Assafcetida, 90 
Astragalus verus, 353 
Astringents, 43, 147 

mineral, 147, 163 

vegetable, 147, 148 
Atomization of fluids, 31 
Atomizers, 39, 40 
Atropa belladonna, 56 
Atropia, 56 

sulphate of, 57 
Aurantii amari cortex, 186 

dulcis cortex, 186 

flores, 186 
Arena sativa, 363 
Avense farina, 363 
Azedarach, 376 

Balm of Gilead tree, 270 
Balsam of fir, 269 

Peru, 280 

Toln, 231 
Balsamodendron Myrrha, 277 

Kua, 277 
Balsams, 279 
Balsamum Peruvianum, 280 



Balsamum Tolutanum, 280 
Bandages, 19 
Barbadoes aloes, 233 
Barbary gum, 352 
Barberry, 107 
Barilla, 327 
Barley, 362 
Barosma crenata, 277 

crenulata, 277 

serrati folia, 277 
Basilicon ointment, 273 
Bassorin, 352 
Baths, 20, 21, 22 

of iodine, 291 
Bay-rum, 173 
Bean of St. Ignatius, 208 
Bearberry, 156 
Bebeeru bark, 125 
Bebeerina, 125 
Belladonna, 56 

leaves, 56 

root, 56 
Belladonnae folia, 56 

radix, 56 
Benne, 356 

oil, 356 
Benzoate of ammonium, 280 
Benzoe amygdaloides, 278 

in sortis, 279 
Benzoic acid, 279 
Benzoin, 278 
Benzoinum, 278 
Berberina, 107, 263 
Bicarbonate of potassium, 326 

sodium, 328 
Bichloride of carbon, 89 

mercury, 295 

methylene, 87 
Bichromate of potassium, 320, 348 
Biniodide of mercury, 297 
Bismuth, subnitrate of, 141 
Bismuthi subcarbonas, 142 

subnitras, 141 
Bitartrate of potassium, 228 
Bitter almond water, 75 

cucumber, 242 

orange, 186 
Bitters, aromatic, 101, 107 

astringent, 101, 114 

simple, 101 
Bittersweet, 72 
Black alder, 125 

drop, 52 

ginger, 183 

hellebore, 241 

mustard, 333 

nightshade, 72 

oak, 153 

oxide of mercury, 292 



384 



INDEX. 



Black pepper, 178, 338 

snakeroot, 267 

wash, 2 92 
Blackberry, 159 
Blennorrheties, 43, 254, 264 
Blistering cerate, 341 
Blisters, 338 
Bloodletting, 17, 18 
Bloodroot, 214 
Blue pills, 246, 290 

vitriol, 136 
Boneset, 116 
Borate of sodium, 201 
Borax, 201 

Bordeaux turpentine, 270 
Borneo camphor, 76 
Botany bay kino, 151 
Bran, 219 
Brandy, 173 
B raj era, 377 

anthelmintica, 377 
Brazilian sarsaparilla, 249 
Brimstone, 223 
Bromide of iron, 135, 307 

ammonium, 307 

lithium, 307 

sodium, 307 

mercury, 307 

potassium, 306 
Bromine, 305 
Brominium, 305 
Broom, 264 
Brown ipecacuanha, 213 

mixture, 35S 
Brucia, 206 
Buchu, 277 
Burgundy pitch, 336 

plaster, 337 
Butter, melted, 222 

of cacao, 365 

of nutmegs, 130 
Butternut, 232 

Cacao butter, 365 

Cadmii sulphas, 142 

Caffea, 96 

Caffeic acid, 96 

Caffeina, 96 

Caffeo-tannic acid, 96 

Cajeput oil, 182 

Calabar bean, 78 

Calamina prgeparata, 138 

Calamine, 138 

Calamus, 184 

Calcined magnesia, 224 

Calcii carbonas psecipitata, 331 

hypophosphis, 316 

phosphas pra;cipitata, 316 

prseparata, 330 



Calcicum, precipitated carbonate of, 
331 

hypophosphite of, 316 

precipitated phosphate of, 316 

preparations of, 330 
Calisaya bark, 114, 115 
Calomel, 246, 293, 377 
Calor, 20 
Calumb, 106 
Calumba, 106 
Calx chlorinata, 322 
Camphene, 77 
Camphogen, 77 
Camphor, 76 

liniment, 77 

water, 78 
Camphora, 76 

officinarum, 76 
Camphorated tincture of opium, 51 
Canada balsam, 269 

fleabane, 259 

pitch, 337 

turpentine, 269, 270 
Canella, 113 

alba, 113 
Canna, 361 

edulis, 361 
Cannabin, 70 
Cannabis Americana, 70 

Indica, 70 

sativa, 70 
Cantharidin, 340 
Cantharides, 263, 339 
Cantharis, 263, 339 

vesicatoria, 339 

vittata, 343 
Cape aloes, 233 
Capsicia, 177 
Capsicum, 177, 335 

annuum, 177 

fastigiatum, 177 
Caracas kino, 151 
Caraway, 189 
Carbo ligni, 370 
Carbolate of potassium, 163 

sodium, 163 
Carbolic acid, 161 
Carbon, tetrabromide of, 89 

tetrachloride of, 89 
Carbonate of ammonium, 175 

calcium, precipitated, 331 

iron, pill of, 128 

lead, 167 

lithium, 329 

magnesium, 225, 330 

potassium, 325, 326 
pure, 326 

sodium, 328 
dried, 328 



INDEX. 



385 



Carbonate of zinc, precipitated, 

Carbonates of sodium, 327 

Cardamom, 184 

Cardamomum, 184 

Carminatives, 170 

Carolina pink, 372 

Carota, 262 

Carrageen, 359 

Carrageeuin, 359 

Carron oil, 331 

Carrot seed, 262 

root, 263 
Cartbagena barks, 116 
Carum, 189 

carui, 189 
Caryophyllin, 181 
Caryopbyllus, 181 

aromaticus, 181 
Cascarilla, 113 
Cascarillin, 113 
Cassava plant, 361 
Cassia acutifolia, 235 

^Ethiopica, 235 

cinnamon, 179 

elongata, 235 

fistula, 221 

lanceolata, 235 

Marilandica, 237 

obovata, 235 

purging, 221 
Castillon powders, 364 
Castor, 98 

fiber, 98 

oil, 221 
Castoreum, 98 
Castorin, 98 
Cataplasmata, 34 
Cataplasms, 27, 34, 350 
Catechu, 150 
Catechuic acid, 150 
Cathartic acid, 226 
Cathartics, 43, 218 
Caustic potassa, 345 
Cauterants, 344 
Cautery, actual, 21 
Centaury, 105 

Cephaelis ipecacuanha, 213 
Cera alba, 365 

flava, 365 
Cerasus serotina, 124 
Cerata, 34 
Cerate, 34, 365 

of calamine, 138 

cantharides, 341 

carbonate of zinc, 138 

extract of cantharides, 341 
Cerates, 27, 34 
Ceratum, 34, 365 

cantharidis, 341 



134 



Ceratum cetacei, 365 

extracti cantharidis, 341 

plumbi subacetatis, 166 

resinge, 273 

compositum, 273 

sabinse, 283 

zinci carbonatis, 138 
Cerii oxalas, 142 
Cetaceum, 365 
Cetraria, 358 

islandica, 358 
Cetraric acid, 359 
Cetrarin, 359 
Cevadilla, 194 
Ceylon cinnamon, 179 
Chalk mixture, 332 

prepared, 332 
Chalybeates, 126, 284 
Chamomile, 109 

German, 110 

wild, 110 
Champagne wine, 172 
Charcoal, 370 
Charta cantharidis, 343 

sinapis, 335 
Chartee, 29 

Chemical electricity, 23 
Chenopodium, 374 

anthelminticum, 374 
Chian turpentine, 270 
Chimaphila, 157 

maculata, 158 

umbellata, 157 
China camphor, 76 

cinnamon, 179 

musk, 97 
Chinese rhubarb, 230 
Chiratin, 107 
Chirayta, 107 
Chiretta, 107 
Chloral, 54 

Chlorate of potassium, 319 
Chloride of ammonium, 317 

iron, 130 

solution of, 131 
tincture of, 131 

lime, 322 

zinc, 139, 347 

solution of, 138 
Chlorides of mercury, 290 
Chlorinated lime, 322 
Chlorine water, 321 
Chlorocarbon, 89 
Chloroform, 81, 84 

purified, 84 
Chloroformum, 84 

purificatum, 84 
Chlorohydric acid, 146 
Chocolate, 96 



25 



386 



INDEX. 



Choke cherry, 124 
Chondrus, 359 

crispus, 359 
Cholagogues, mercurials as, 286, 287 
Chromic acid, 347 
Chrysophanic acid, 231 
Cicuta, 67 
Cimicifuga, 267 

racemosa, 267 
Cinchona, 114 

Calisaj'-a, 114, 115 

Condaminea, 115 

flava, 114 

micrantha, 115 

pallida, 114 

rubra, 115 

succirubra, 115 
Cinchonia, 116, 117 
Cinchonicia, 122 
Cinchonidia, 116, 118 
Cinchonise sulphas, 122 
Cincho-tannic acid, 117 
Cinnabar, 285, 299 
Cinnamic acid, 179, 281 
Cinnamomum, 179 

aromaticum, 179 

Zeylanicum, 179 
Cinnamon, 179 

water, 179 
Cissampelina, 276 
Cissampelos pareira, 276 
Citrate of iron, 133 

and ammonium, 135 
and quinia, 134 
and strychnia, 135 

lithium, 330 

magnesium, solution of, 226 

potassium, 202 

mixture of, 202 
solution of, 202 
Citric acid, 204 
Citrine ointment, 299 
Citrullus colocynthis, 242 
Citrus aurantium, 186 

vulgaris, 186 
Classification of Medicines, 42 
Claviceps purpurea, 209 
Climate, influence of, on medicinal 
effects, 37 
on plants, 26 
Cloves, 181 

Clutterbuck's elaterium, 244 
Clysters, 41 
Coca, 96 
Cocaina, 96 
Coccoloba uvifera, 151 
Cocculus Indicus, 80 

palmatus, 106 
Coccus, 371 



Coccus cacti, 371 
Cochineal, 371 
Cochlearia armoracia, 264 
Codamia, 46 
Codeia, 46 
Cod-liver oil, 307 
Coffea Arabica, 96 
Coffee, 96 
Cohosh, 266 
Colchici radix, 257 

semen, 257 
Colchicia, 258 
Colchicum, 257 

autumnale, 257 

root, 257 

seed, 257 
Cold, 21, 22 
Colica Pictonum, 164 
Collodion, 367 

flexible, 368 

with cantharides, 342 
Collodium, 367 

flexile, 368 

cum cantharide, 342 
Collyria, 38 
Colocynth, 242 
Colocynthin, 242 
Colocynthis, 242 
Colombian barks, 116 
Colombin, 106 
Colouring agents, 43, 370 
Columbo, 106 
Compound cathartic pills, 243 

decoction of sarsaparilla, 250 

extract of colocynth, 242 

fluid extract of sarsaparilla, 250 

galbanum pills, 92 

mixture of iron, 129 

pills of antimony, 198 

pills of iron, 129 

powder of ipecacuanha, 51, 214 
jalap, 229, 239 

solution of iodine, 302 

spirit of ether, 99 
juniper, 262 

syrup of sarsaparilla, 250 
squill, 257 
Confectio opii, 50 

aromatica, 184 

rosas, 159 

sennse, 237 
Confection of opium, 50 

rose, 159 

senna, 237 
Confectiones, 28 
Confections, 27, 28 
Conia, 67 
Conium, 66 

maculatum, 66 



INDEX. 



387 



Conserves, 28 

Convolvulus scammonia, 241 

Copaiba, 273 

Copaifera multijuga, 273 

Copaivic acid, 274 

Copper, preparations of, 136 

subacetate of, 137 

sulphate of, 136, 218, 348 
Copperas, 129 
Coptis, 102 

teeta, 103 

trifolia, 102 
Coriander, 189 
Coriandrum, 189 

sativum, 189 
Cornus Florida, 122 
Corroborants, 100 

Corrosive chloride of mercury, 295, 
348 

sublimate, 296, 348 
Cotton, 211 

root, bark of, 211 
Cotula, 110 
Court-plaster, 365 
Cowhage, 376 
Cranesbill, 154 
Cream of tartar, 228, 254 
Creasote, 160 

ointment, 161 

water, 161 
Creasotum, 160 
Creta praeparata, 332 
Crocus, 370 

sativus, 370 
Croton eluteria, 113 

oil, 244, 344 

tiglium, 244 
Crotonic acid, 244 
Crowfoot, 154 
Crude camphor, 76 

liquorice, 358 

nitre, 200 

quinia, 121 

sulphur, 233 

tartar, 228 
Cryolite, 327 
Cryptopia, 46, 47 
Cubeb, 274 
Cubeba, 274 
Cubebin, 275 
Cubic nitre, 201 
Cucurbita pepo, 378 
Cultivation, influence of, on plants, 

26 
Culver's root, 235 
Cupri praeparata, 136 

subacetas, 137 

sulphas, 136 
Cuprum ammoniatum, 137 



Cups, 18 

Curare, 80 

Curarine, 80 

Cusparin, 113 

Cyanide of potassium, 75 

mercury, 298 
Cyanhydric acid, 73 
Cynanchum oleaafolium, 235 
Cynips querciisfolii, 149 
Cypripedium, 94 

pubescens, 94 

Dandelion, 261 
Daphne gnidium, 252 

mezereum, 252 
Daphnin, 252 
Datura stramonium, 59 
Daturia, 60 
Daucus carota, 262 
Deadly nightshade, 56 
Decocta, 30 
Decoction of azedarach, 376 

barley, 363 

blackberry, 159 

cimicifuga, 268 

cinchona (yellow or red), 119 

cotton root bark, 211 

dogwood, 123 

dulcamara, 72 

elder, 238 

erigeron, 260 

geranium, 154 

Iceland moss, 359 

Indian hemp, 260 

Irish moss, 359 

liquorice root, 357 

logwood, 153 

marsh-mallow, 356 

pipsissewa, 158 

pomegranate, 159 

sarsaparilla, compound, 250 

seneka, 266 

uva ursi, 157 

white oak, 154 
Decoctions, 26, 30 
Delphinium consolida, 264 
Demulcents, 43, 349 
Deshler's salve, 273 
Diachylon, 167 
Diaphoretics, 43, 247 
Diffusible stimulants, 170 
Digestion, 29 
Digitalin, 190 
Digitalinum, 190 
Digitalis, 190, 255 

purpurea, 190 
Diluents, 349 
Diluted alcohol, 172 

hydrocyanic acid, 73 



388 



INDEX. 



Diluted muriatic acid, 146 

nitric acid, 145 

nitre-muriatic acid, 146 

sulphuric acid, 144 
Diospyros, 159 

Yirginiana, 159 
Diseases, influence of, on medicinal 

effects, 3 V 
Distilled oils, 177 
Diuretics, 43, 253 
Dogwood, 122 
Donovan's solution, 315 
Dorema ammoniacum, 93 
Doses, modifying effects of, 26 

of medicines, 36 
Dover's poAvder, 51, 214 
Dracontium, 95 

foetidum, 95 
Drachm, 35 
Drastics, 218, 238 
Dried alum. 168, 169 

carbonate of sodium, 328 

sulphate of iron, 129, 130 
Drops, 36 

Dryobalanops camphora, 76 
Dulcamara, 72 
Dutch camphor, 76 

East India kino, 151 
Ecbalium agreste, 243 
Ecbolina, 209 
Eccritics, 43, 211 
Effects of medicines, 24 
Effervescing draught, 203 
Egyptian opium, 45 
Elaterin, 244 
Elaterium, 243 
Elder, 238 
Electricitas, 22 
Electricity, 22, 23 
Electro-puncture, 19 
Electuaries, 28 
Elettaria cardamomum, 184 
Elixir of vitriol, 144 
Ellis' magnesia, 224 
Emetia, 213 
Emetics, 43, 211 

mineral, 218 

vegetable, 213 
Emmenagogues, 43, 282 
Emollients, 350 
Emplastra, 34 
Emplastrum aconiti, 69 

ammoniaci, 93 

cum hydrargyro, 291 

arnicas, 176 

assafoetidsej 92 

belladonnse, 59 

ferri, 128 



Emplastrum galbani compositum, 92 

hydrargyri, 291 

opii, 50 

picis Burgundicse, 337 
Canadensis, 338 
cum cantharide, 337 

plumbi, 34, 167 

resina;, 273 

saponis, 167 
Emulsions, 29 
Endermic application of medicines, 

37 
Enemata, 41, 246 
Epispastics, 333, 338 
Epsom salt, 235 
Ergot, 209 
Ergota, 209 
Ergotic acid, 209 
Ergotina, 209 
Erigeron, 259 

Canadense, 259 

heterophyllum, 259 

Philadelphicum, 259 
Errhines, 38 
Erythroxylon coca, 96 
Escharotics, 333, 344 
Essential oils, 177 
Ether, 81 

stronger, 81 
Ethereal oil, 99 

tinctures, 30 
Ethyl, 82 

Eucalyptus resinifera, 151 
Eugenia pimenta, 181 
Eugenin, 181 
Eupatorium, 110 

perforatum, 110 
Euphorbia corollata, 216 

ipecacuanha, 216 
European opium, 45 

rhubarb, 231 
Expectorants, 264 
Extract of aconite, 69 

American hellebore, fluid, 193 
hemp, 70 

arnica, 176 

belladonna, 58 

belladonna root, fluid, 58 

bittersweet, 73 
fluid, 73 

black hellebore, 242 

buchu, fluid, 277 

butternut, 232 

calabar bean, 79 

cimicifuga, fluid, 268 

cinchona, 119 
fluid, 119 

colchicum, acetic, of root, 259 
fluid, of seed, 259 



INDEX. 



389 



Extract of colocynth, 242 

compound, 242 
conium, 68 

fluid, 68 
cottonroot, bark, fluid, 211 
cubeb, fluid. 275 
dandelion, 262 

fluid, 262 
digitalis, 192 

fluid, 192 
dogwood, fluid, 123 
ergot, fluid, 211 
erigeron, Canada, fluid, 259 
gentian, 104 

fluid, 104 
geranium, fluid, 155 
ginger, fluid, 183 
hydrastis, fluid, 264 
hvoscyamus, 62 

fluid, 62 
Ignatia, 208 
Indian hemp, 70 
ipecacuanha, fluid, 214 
jalap, 239 
logwood, 153 
lupulin, fluid, 72 
matico, fluid, 276 
May apple, 240 
mezereon, fluid, 252 
nux vomica, 207 
opium, 50 

pareira brava, fluid, 277 
pipsissewa, 158 
quassia, 102 
rhatany, 152 

fluid, 152 
rhubarb, 232 

fluid, 232 
sarsaparilla, fluid, 250 

fluid, compound, 250 
savine, fluid, 283 
seneka, 266 

fluid, 266 
senna, fluid, 237 
serpentaria, fluid, 109 
spigelia, fluid, 373 
spigelia and senna, fluid, 373 
squill, fluid, 257 
stillingia, fluid, 253 
stramonium, leaves, 60 

seed, 60 
uva ursi, fluid, 157 
wild cherry, fluid, 125 
yellow jasmine, fluid, 195 
Extracta, 32 

fluida, 33 
Extracts, 32 

Extractum glycyrrhizae, 358 
Eye-washes, 38 



False angustura bark, 113, 206 

sarsaparilla, 250 
Fat manna, 220 
Fennel, 189 

water, 189 
Fermentum, 369 
Fern, male, 376 
Ferri carbonatis, pilula, 128 

chloridi, liquor, 131 

tinctura, 131 

chloridum, 130 

citras, 133 

citratis, liquor, 133 

et ammonii citras, 135 

et ammonii sulphas, 135 

et ammonii tartras, 135 

et potassii tartras, 132 

et quiniae citras, 134 

et strychniae citras, 135 

ferrocyanidum, 134 

hypophosphis, 133 

iodidi, syrupus, 132 

iodidum, 131 

lactas, 134 

nitratis, liquor, 133 

oxalas, 134 

oxidum hydratum, 127 

saccharatum, 127 

phosphas, 132 

prgeparata, 126 

pyrophosphas, 133 

subcarbonas, 128 

subsulphatis, liquor, 130 

sulphas, 129 

exsiccata, 130 

tersulphatis, liquor, 130 
Ferrocyanide of iron, 134 
Ferruginea, 126 
Ferrum ammoniatum, 133 

redactum, 127 
Figs, 219 
Filix mas, 376 
Flag, sweet, 184 
Flake manna, 220 
Flax, common, 354 
Flaxseed, 354 

meal, 355 

oil, 225, 254 
Fleabane, Canada, 259 

Philadelphia, 259 

various-leaved, 259 
Florida arrow-root, 260 
Flowers of sulphur, 223 
Fluid extracts, 33 
Fluidrachm, 35 
Fluidounce, 35 
Fluoride of sodium and aluminium, 

327 
Fceniculum, 189 



390 



INDEX. 



Foeniculum vulgare, 189 
Fonticuli, 19 

Forms in which medicines are used, 26 
Formyl, terchloride of, 85 

teriodide of, 305 
Fowler's solution, 314 
Foxglove, 190 
Frasera, 104 

Walteri, 104 
Fraxinus ornus, 220 

rotundifolia, 220 
Friction electricity, 13 
Frictions, 19 
Frigus, 21 
Fumigation, 34 
Fusel oil, 88, 171 

Gaduin, 308 
Gadus morrhua, 307 
Galbanum, 92 
Galipea officinalis, 112 
Gall-oak, 149 
Galla, 149 
Gallic acid, 149 
Gallon, 35 
Galls, 149 
Gamboge, 243 
Gambogia, 243 
Garcinia morella, 243 
Gargarismata, 39 
Gargles, 39 
Garlic, 268, 32-8 
Gases, 27, 34 
Gaultheria, 185 

procumbens, 185 
Gelatin, 364 
Gelatina, 364 
Gelseminia, 195 
Gelseminic acid, 195 
Gelsemium, 195 

sempervirens, 195 
Gentian, 103 
Gentiana, 103 

lutea, 103 
Gentianin, 104 
Geranium, 154 

maculatum, 154 
Geum rivale, 125 
Gillenia, 217 

stipulacea, 217 

trifoliata, 217 
Gin, 173 
Ginger, 183, 338 
Glauber's salt, 226 
Glycerin, 366 
Glycerina, 366 
Glycerita, 33 
Glycerite of borate of sodium, 202 

carbolic acid, 163 



Glycerite of tannic acid, 148 

tar, 272 
Glycerites, 33 

Glyceritum acidi carbolici, 163 
tannici, 148 

picis liquidae, 272 

sodii boratis, 202 
Glycyrrhiza, 357 

echinata, 357 

glabra, 357 
Glycyrrhizin, 357 
Golden sulphur of antimony, 198 
Goldthread, 102 
Gossypii radicis cortex, 211 
Gossypium herbaceum, 211 
Goulard's cerate, 166 

extract, 166 
Grains, 34 
Granati fructus cortex, 158 

radicis cortex, 377 
Granville's lotion, 343 
Gray ipecacuanha, 213 
Greenhart tree, 125 
Green iodide of mercury, 297 
Green vitrol, 129 
Ground-holly, 157 
Guaiac, 250 
Guaiaci lignum, 250 

resina, 250 
Guaiacin, 251 
Guaiacum, 250 

officinale, 250 

wood, 250 
Guanara, 96 

Guatemala sarsaparilla, 249 
Gum, 352 

Arabic, 351 

Barbary, 352 

India, 352 

Senegal, 351 

Turkey, 351 

Habit, influence of, 37 

Haematics, 43, 284 

Haematin, 153 

Haematihics, 43, 284 

Haematoxylin, 153 

Haematoxylon, 153 

Haematoxylon Campechianum, 153 

Hardhack, 125 

Haschisch, 70 

Heat, 20 

Hedeoma, 188 

pulegioides, 188 
Hellebore, American, 192 

black, 241, 282 

white, 193 
Helleborus, 241 

niger, 241 



INDEX, 



391 



Hemlock, 66 

spotted, 66 

spruce, 337 

pitch plaster, 338 
Hemp, Indian, 260 
Henbane, 60 
Henry's magnesia, 224 
Hepatic aloes, 233 
Heuchera, 160 

Americana, 160 
Hiera picra, 114, 234 
Hirudo decora, 18 

medicinalis, 18 
Hive-syrup, 257 
Hoffman's anodyne, 99 
Honduras sarsaparilla, 249 
Honey, 219, 369 

of rose, 159 

borate of sodium, 202 
Honeys, 26, 32 

Hope's camphor mixture, 146 
Hops, 71 
Hordein, 363 
Hordeum, 362 

distichon, 362 
Horehound, 188 
Horsemint, 188 
Horseradish, 264 
Howard's calomel, 283 
Hulled barley, 363 
Humulus, 71 

lupulus, 71 
Husband's magnesia, 224 
Huxham's tincture, 109, 120 
Hydragogues, 218 

Hydrargyri chloridum corrosivum, 
295, 348 
mite, 246, 293 

cyanidum, 298 

iodidum rubrum, 297 
viride, 297 

oxidum flavum, 293 

nigrum, 292 
rubrum, 292 

nitratis unguentum, 299 
liquor, 300, 348 

prseparata, 285 

sulphas flava, 299 

sulphuretum rubrum, 299 
Hydrargyrum ammoniatum, 298 

cum creta, 246, 292 
Hydrastia, 264 
Hydrastis Canadensis, 263 
Hydrate of chloral, 54 
Hydrated oxide of iron, 127, 313 
Hydrocyanic acid. 73 
Hygienic remedies, 17 
Hyoscyami folia, 60 

semen, 60 



Hyoscyamia, 61 
Hyoscyamus, 60 

niger, 60 
Hypnotics, 44 
Hypodermic application of medicines, 

38 
Hypophosphite of ammonium, 317 

calcium, 316 

potassium, 316 

sodium, 317 
Hyposulphite of sodium, 145 

Iceland moss, 358 
Ichthyocolla, 364 
Idiosyncrasy, influence of, 36 
Igasuria, 206 
Igasuric acid, 206 
Ignatia, 208 
Ilex Paraguaiensis, 97 
Illicium anisatum, 189 
Imagination, influence of, 37 
Imponderable remedies, 20 
India gum, 352 

opium, 45 

senna, 236 
Indian hemp, 260 

physic, 217 

tobacco, 64 
Infusa, 29 
Infusion of American columbo, 104 

American senna, 238 

angustura, 113 

blood-root, 216 

buchu, 277 

capsicum, 178 

carrot-seed, 263 

cascarilla, 113 

catechu, compound, 151 

chamomile, 110 

cinchona (red and yellow), 119 

cloves, 181 

columbo, 106 

coptis, 103 

dandelion, 262 

digitalis, 192 

erigeron, 260 

flaxseed, compound, 354 

gentian, compound, 104 

ginger, 183 

hops, 72 

juniper, 262 

lobelia, 65 

magnolia, 112 

matico, 276 

pareira brava, 277 

quassia, 102 

rhatany, 152 

rhubarb, 232 

rose, compound, 159 



392 



INDEX. 



Infusion of sabbatia, 106 

senna, 236 

serpentaria, 109 

spigelia, 373 

sweet flag, 185 

tar, 272 

thorough wort, 111 

tobacco, 63 

valerian, 94 

wild cherry, 125 

wormwood, 111 

yarrow, 114 
Infusion, 26, 29 
Inhalation, 34, 39 
Injections, 41 
Iodide of ammonium, 304 

arsenic, 315 

and mercury, 315 

iron, 131, 303 

lead, 167, 303 

mercury, 297, 303 

potassium, 303 

sodium, 305 

starch, 303 

sulphur, 303 

zinc, 139, 303 
Iodides of mercury, 297, 303 
Iodine, 300 
lodinium, 300 
Iodized collodion, 368 
Iodoform, 305 
lodoformum, 305 
Ipecacuanha, 213 

American, 217 

spurge, 216 
Ipomcea Jalapa, 238 
Irish moss, 359 
Iron, preparations, of 126, 2i 

reduced, 127 
Irritants, 43, 170, 332 
Isinglass, 364 
Issues, 19 

Jalap, 238 
Jalapa, 238 
Jamaica ginger, 183 

kino, 151 

sarsaparilla, 249 
James' powder, 199 
Jamestown weed, 59 
Janipha manihot, 361 
Japan camphor, 76 
Jateorrhiza calumba, 106 

palmata, 106 
Jerusalem oak, 374 
Jesuit's powder, 118 
Jewell's calomel, 294 
Juglans, 232 

cinerea, 232 



Juice of conium, 68 
Juices, 32 
Jujube paste, 353 
Juniper, 262 
Juniperus, 262 

communis, 262 

sabina, 283 

Virginiana, 283 

Kamala, 378 
Kameela, 378 
Kelp, 327 

Kermes mineral, 198 
Kiuic acid, 116 
Kino, 151 
Kinoic acid, 151 
Kinovic acid, 117 
Koosso, 377 
Krameria, 152 

triandra, 152 
Krameric acid, 152 

Labarraque's liquid, 322 
Lac assafcetidae, 92 

sulphuris, 224 
Lactate of iron, 134 
Lactic acid, 369 
Lactuca sativa, 55 

elongata, 55 
Lactucarium, 55 
Lactucin, 55 
Lanthopia, 46 
Lard, 365 

oil, 365 
Larkspur, 264, 
Laudamia, 46 
Laudanum, 51 
Lavandula, 187 

vera, 187 
Lavements, 41 
Lavender, 187 
Laxatives, 218, 219 
Lead arthralgy, 164 

colic, 164 

plaster, 34, 167 

paralysis, 164 

preparations of, 163 

water, 166 
Ledoyen's disinfecting fluid, 167 
Leeches, 18 
Lemon-juice, 204 

syrup, 204 
Lenitives, 349 
Leopard's bane, 175 
Lepidolite, 329 
Leptandra, 235 

Virginica, 235 
Leptandrin, 235 
Lettuce-opium, 55 



INDEX. 



393 



Levant wormseed, 375 
Lichenin, 359 
Light, 20 
Lignum vitae, 252 
Lime-solution, 331 
Limonis succus, 204 
Lini farina, 355 
Linimenta, 27, 33 
Liniments, 33 
Linimentum aconiti, 69 

ammoniae, 174, 336 

calcis, 331 

camphorae, 78 

cantharidis, 342 

chloroformi, 87 

saponis, 78 

terebinthinae, 271 
Linseed oil, 354 
Linum, 354 

usitatissimum, 354 
Liquidambar orientale, 280 
Liquids, 26, 28 
Liquor ammonii acetatis, 203 

arsenici chloridi, 315 

et hydrargyri iodidi, 315 

calcis, 331 

ferri chloridi, 131 
citratis, 133 
nitratis, 133 
subsulphatis, 130 
tersulphatis, 130 

gutta-perchee, 368 

hydrargyri nitratis, 300, 348 

iodinii compositus, 302 

magnesii citratis, 226 

morphias sulphatis, 53 

plumbi subaceiatis, 166 

potassae, 325 

potassii arsenitis, 314 
citratis, 202 
permanganatis, 321 

sodae, 327 

chlorinatae, 322 

sodii arseniatis, 315 

zinci chloridi, 138 
Liquores, 28 
Liquorice, 358 

root, 357 
Liriodendrin, 112 
Liriodendron, 112 

tulipifera, 112 
Litharge, 167 

Lithium preparations of, 329 
Lithii carbonas, 329 

citras, 330 

praeparata, 329 
Lobelia, 64, 217 

inflata, 64 
Lobelina, 64 



Logwood, 53 
London paste, 346 
Lozenges, 26, 28 
Lump gamboge, 243 
Lunar caustic, 141, 345 
Lupulin, 71 
Lupulite, 71 
Lux, 20 
Lytta vesicatoria, 339 

Mace, 80 
Maceration, 29 
Macis, 80 
Madder, 84 
Madeira wine, 172 
Magnesia, 224, 330 

alba, 225 
Magnesii carbonas, 225, 330 

citratis liquor, 226 

praeparata, 330 

sulphas, 225 
Magnesite, 225 

Magnesium, preparations of, 330 
Magnetism, 23 
Magnolia, 112 

acuminata, 112 

glauca, 112 

tripetala, 112 
Malamide, 356 
Male fern, 376 
Malt, 363 

liquors, 173 
Mandrake, 239 
Manganesii sulphas, 227 
Manna, 220 

cannulata, 220 

in sorts, 220 
Mannite, 220 
Maranta, 360 

arundinacea, 360 
Marjoram, 188 
Marrubium, 188 

vulgare, 188 
Marshrnallow, 356 
Marsh's test for arsenious acid, 311 
Martial preparations, 126 
Maruta cotula, 110 
Mate, 96 

Materia medica, definition of, 17, 23 
Maticin, 276 
Matico, 276 
Matricaria, 110 

chamomilla, 110 
May-apple, 239 
Mayweed, 110 
Meadow saffron, 257 
Measures and weights, 35 
Mecca senna, 236 
Mechanical remedies, 17 



394 



INDEX. 



Meconic acid, 46 
Meconidia, 46 
Meconin, 46 
Medicated syrups, 32 

waters, 26, 29 
Medicines, definition of, 23 
Mel, 369 

despumatum, 369 

rosas, 159 

sodii boratis, 202 
Melaleuca cajuputi, 182 
Melia azedarach, 3*76 
Mellita, 32 
Menispermin, 80 
Mentha piperita, 187 

viridis, 187 
Mercurial cathartics, 218, 245 

ointment, 291 

plaster, 291 
Mercury, black oxide of, 292 

metallic, 285, 289 

red oxide of, 92 

yellow oxide of, 293 

preparations of, 275 

with chalk, 246, 292 
Methyl-ethylic ether, 87 
Methylic ether, 87 
Methylene, bichloride of, 87 
Mezereon, 252 
Mezereum, 252 
Mild acrid cathartics, 218, 230 

chloride of mercury, 246, 293 
Milfoil, 114 
Milk of assafetida, 92 
Mineral acids, 143, 348 

astringents, 147, 163 

tonics, 100, 126 
Minims, 35 
Mistura ammoniaci, 93 

amygdalae, 353 

assafoetidas, 92 

chloroformi, 87 

cretas, 332 

ferri composita, 129, 278 

glycyrrhizas composita, 358 

potassii citratis, 202 
Misturse, 29 
Mixtures, 27, 29 

Modus operandi of medicines, 24 
Molasses, 219, 369 
Momordica elaterium, 243 
Monarda, 188 

punctata, 188 
Monkshood, 68 
Monsel's solution, 130 
Montpelier scammony, 241 
Morphia, 46, 53 

preparations of, 52 
Morphias acetas, 53 



Morphias murias, 52 

sulphas, 53 
Moschus, 97 

moschiferus, 97 
Moxa, 21 
Mucilage, 349 
Mucilago acacias, 353 

sassafras, 356 

tragacanthce, 354 

ulmi, 355 
Mucous membranes, application of 

medicines to, 38 
Mucuna, 376 

pruriens, 376 
Muriate of morphia, 53 
Muriatic acid, 146 

diluted, 146 
Musk, 97 
Mustard, 217, 333 

whey, 334 
Myristica, 180 

fragrans, 180 
Myrospermum Peruiferum, 280 

Toluiferum, 281 
Myrosyne, 334 
Myrrh, 277 
Myrrha, 277 

Narceia, 47 
Narcotics, 43, 44 
Narcotina, 46 
Narthex assafoetida, 90 
Natron, 327 
Nauseants, 211 
Nauseating diaphoretics, 247 
Nebulization of fluids, 39 
Nectandra, 125 

Rodiei, 125 
Nervous sympathy, doctrine of, 24 
Neurotics, 43, 44 
Neutral mixture, 202 
Nicotiana tabacum, 62 
Nicotia, 62 
Nicotianin, 62 
Nightshade, black, 72 

deadly, 56 
Nitrate of lead, 167 

mercury, 300, 342 

potassium, 200 

silver, 140 

fused, 141, 348 

sodium, 201 
Nitre, 200 
Nitric acid, 145 

diluted, 145 
Nitro-muriatic acid, 146 

diluted, 146 
Nitrous oxide, 89 
Nitrous powders, 301 



INDEX. 



395 



Norway spruce, 330 
Nutgall, 149 
Nutmeg, 180 
Nux vomica, 205 

Oatmeal, 219, 363 
Occupation, influence of, 37 
Officinal, definition of term, 24 
Oil of almond, expressed, 221 

amber, 98 

anise, 189 

arnica, 176 

bitter almond, 75 

cajeput, 182 

camphor, 77, 78 

Canada erigeron, 259 

caraway, 189 

cardamon, 184 

castor, 98 

cinnamon, 179 

cloves, 181 

copaiba, 274 

cubeb, 275 

fennel, 188 

garlic, 268 

gaultheria, 186 

ginger, 183 

hedeoma, 188 

horsemint, 188 

juniper, 262 

lavender, 187 

mace, 180 

marjoram, 188 

mustard, 334 

nutmeg, 180 

peppermint, 187 

pimento, 181 

rosemary, 188 

rue, 283 

sassafras, 253 

savine, 283 

spearmint, 187 

tar, 272 

tbeobroma, 365 

thyme, 188 

tobacco, 63, 64 

turpentine, 182, 271, 336, 377 

valerian, 93, 94 

vitriol, 143 

wine, 99 

wormseed, 375 

yarrow, 114 
Oil-cake, 355 
Oils, volatile, 177 

distilled, 177 

essential, 177 
Ointment, 33, 365 

of ammoniated mercury, 299 

antimony, 197, 344 



Ointment of belladonna, 59 

benzoin, 279 

calomel, 295 

cantharides, 342 

carbolic acid, 163 

carbonate of lead, 168 

creasote, 161 

iodide of lead, 167 

iodide of potassium, 304 
sulphur, 303 

iodine, 303 

compound, 303 

mercury, 291 

mezereon, 252 

nitrate of mercury, 299 

nutgall, 150 

oxide of zinc, 138 

red iodide of mercury, 298 
oxide of mercury, 293 

stramonium, 60 

subacetate of copper, 137 

sulphur, 223 

tannic acid, 148 

tar, 272 

tobacco, 64 

veratria, 194 

white hellebore, 194 

yellow oxide of mercury, 293 
Ointments, 33 
Olea Europcea, 221 

volatilia, 177 
Oleoresin of black pepper, 178 

capsicum, 178 

cubeb, 275 

ginger, 183 

lupulin, 72 
Oleoresinee, 33 
Oleoresins, 33 
Oleum asthereum, 99 

amygdalae amarae, 75 

anisi, 189 

cajuputi, 182 

camphorse, 78 

cari, 189 

caryophylli, 181 

chenopodii, 375 

cinnamomi, 179 

copaibas, 274 

cubebae, 275 

erigerontis Canadensis, 259 

fceniculi, 188 

gaultherias, 186 

hedeomae, 188 

juniperi, 262 

lavandulae, 187 

lini, 354 

menthae piperitae, 187 
viridis, 187 

monardae, 188 



396 



INDEX. 



Oleum morrhuae, 307 

myristicae, 180 

olivae, 221 

origani, 188 

pimentae, 181 

ricini, 221 

rosmarini, 188 

rutae, 283 

sabinae, 283 

sassafras, 253 

sesami, 357 

succini rectificatum, 98 

tabaci, 64 

terebinthinae, 182, 271, 336, 377 

theobroniae, 365 

thymi, 188 

tiglii 3 244, 344 

Valerianae, 93 
Olive oil, 221 

tree, 221 
Opiania, 46 
Opium, 44 

plaster, 50 
Orange flower water, 187 

peel, 186 
Orchis mascula, 364 
Origanum, 188 

vulgare, 188 
Ovis aries, 365 
Oryza, 363 

sativa, 363 
Ounce, 35 
Oxalate of cerium, 142 

iron, 134 
Oxalic acid, 147 
Oxide of antimony, 199 

ethyl, 82 

lead, 167 

silver, 141 

zinc, 138 
Oxymels, 32 

Oxysulphuret of antimony, 198 
Oyster-shell, prepared, 332 
Ozonic ether, 323 

Painter's colic, 164 
Pale bark, 114, 115 

rose, 159 
Palma Christi, 221 
Papaver, 44 

somniferum, 44 
Papaverina, 46, 47 
Paraguay tea, 96 
Paramenispermin, 80 
Paramorphia, 46, 47 
Paregoric elixir, 51 
Pareira, 276 

brava, 276 
Parsley, 264 



Partridge-berry, 186 

Parts to which medicines are applied, 

37 
Paullinia sorbilis, 96 
Peaches, 219 
Pearlash, 326 
Pearl barley, 363 

sago, 362 
Pennyroyal, 188 
Pepper, black, 178 

white, 178 
Peppermint, 187 

water, 187 
Pepo, 378 
Pepsine, 125 
Percolation, 30 
Percolator, 30 

Permanganate of potassium, 320 
Peroxide of hydrogen, 322 
Persian opium, 45 
Persimmon, 159 
Petroselinum sativum, 264 
Pharmaceutical modifications, 26 
Pharmacological remedies, 23 
Pharmacopoeia, 24 
Pharmacy, definition of, 23 
Phenylic alcohol, 162 
Phosphate of ammonium, 318 

calcium, 316 

iron, 132 
Phosphorus, 176 
Phosphuret of zinc, 176 
Physeter macrocephalus, 365 
Physostigma, 78 

venenosum, 78 
Physostigmin, 79 
Picrotoxin, 80 
Pill of carbonate of iron, 128 

soap, compound, 50 
Pills, 27 

of aloes, 234 

and assafetida, 234 
and mastic, 234 
and myrrh,' 234, 278 

antimony, compound, 198 

assafetida, 92 

cathartic, compound, 243 

copaiba, 274 

galbanum, compound, 92 

iodide of iron, 132 

iron, compound, 129, 278 

mercury, 246, 290 

opium, 50 

rhubarb, 232 

compouud, 232 

squill, compound, 257 

sulphate of quinia, 121 
Pilula ferri carbonatis, 128 

saponis composita, 50 



INDEX. 



39T 



Pilulae, 27 

aloes, 234 

et assafcetidae, 234 
et mastiches, 234 
et myrrhae, 234, 278 

antimonii compositae, 198 

ferri compositae, 129, 278 
iodidi, 132 

hydrargyri, 246, 290 

opii, 50 

rhei, 232 

compositae, 232 

scillae, compositae, 257 
Pimenta, 181 
Pimento, 181 
Pimpinella anisum, 189 
Pinkroot, 372 
Pint, 35 . 
Pinus palustris, 182, 269 

taeda, 269 
Pipe gamboge, 243 
Piper, 178 

cubeba, 274 

nigrum, 178 
Piperin, 178 
Pipsissewa, 157, 255 
Pitch, 272 
Pix Burgundica, 336 

Canadensis, 337 

liquida, 272 
Plasma, 367 
Plaster of aconite, 69 

ammoniac, 93 

ammoniac with mercury, 93, 291 

antimony, 197 

arnica, 176 

assafetida, 92 

belladonna, 59 

Burgundy pitch, 337 

Canada pitch, 337 

galbanum, compound, 92, 337 

iron, 128, 337 

mercury, 291 

opium, 50, 337 

pitch with cantharides, 337 
Plasters, 27, 34 
Plumbi acetas, 165 

carbonas, 167 

iodidum, 167 

nitras, 167 

oxidum, 167 

praeparata, 163 

subacetatis liquor, 166 
Plummer's pills, 198 
Podophyllum, 239 

peltatum, 239 
Poison-nut, 205 
Poison-oak, 208 
Polygala senega, 265 



Polygalic acid, 266 
Pomegranate rind, 158 

root, bark of, 377 
Poppy, black, 44 

white, 44 
Poppy-heads, 44 
Porphyroxin, 46 
Port wine, 172 
Porter, 173 
Potassa, 345 

alum, 168 

cum calce, 346 

solution of, 325 

with lime, 346 
Potassii acetas, 254 

bicarbonas, 326 

bichromas, 320, 348 

bitartras, 228 

carbonas, 326 > 

pura, 326 

bromidum, 306 

chloras, 319 

citras, 202 

cyanidum, 75 

et sodii tartras, 229 

iodidum, 303 

nitras, 200 

permanganas, 320 

praeparata, 325 

sulphas, 228 

tartras, 229 
Potato, 72 

flies, 343 
Potentilla tormentilla, 159 
Pound, 35 
Poultices, 34, 350 
Powder of aloes and canella, 114,234 

ipecacuanha, compound, 51, 141 

jalap, compound, 229, 237 

rhubarb, compound, 232 
Powders, 27 

aperient, effervescent, 229 

Seidlitz, 229 

soda, 329 
Precipitated carbonate of calcium, 
331 

phosphate of calcium, 316 

sulphur, 224 

carbonate of zinc, 138 
Prepared calamine, 138 

chalk, 332 

oyster-shell, 332 
Pride of China, 376 
Prinos verticillatus, 125 
Proof spirit, 172 
Prophylamia, 209, 308 
Prunes, 219 

Prunus Virginiana, 124 
Psychotria emetica, 213 



398 



INDEX. 



Prussian blue, 134 
Prussic acid, 73 
Pseudomorphia, 46 
Pterocarpus erinaceus, 151 

marsupium, 151 

santalinus, 371 
Pulp of prunes, 237 

purging cassia, 221, 237 

tamarinds, 237 
Pulveres, 27 

effervescentes aperientes, 229 
Pulverization of fluids, 39 
Pulvis aloes et canelloe, 114, 234 

antimonialis, 198 

aromaticus, 184 

ipecacuanhse compositus; 51, 214 
Pumpkin-seed, 378 
Punica granatum, 158 
Purgatives, 218 
Purging cassia, 221 
Pyroligneous acid, 272 
Pyrophosphate of iron, 133 
Pyroxylon, 367 

Quassia, 101 

amara, 101 
Quassin, 102 
Quercin, 154 
Quercitron, 154 
Quercus alba, 153 

infectoria, 149 

tinctoria, 153 
Quevenne's iron, 127 
Quicksilver, 285 
Quinia, 116, 117 

amorphous, 121 

crude, 121 
Quini?e sulphas, 120 

valerianas, 121 
Quinicia, 122 
Quinidia, 116, 118 
Quinoidia, 121 
Quinoidine, 121 

Race, influence of, 37 
Raisins, 219 

Rectified oil of amber, 98 
Red bark, 115, 116 

cedar, 283 

iodide of mercury, 297 

ipecacuanha, 213 

oxide of mercury, 292 

precipitate, 293 

rose, 159 

saunders, 371 

sulphuret of mercury, 299 
Refined camphor, 76 

nitre, 200 
Refrigerant diaphoretics, 248 



Refrigerants, 190, 201 

Reinsch's test for arsenious acid, 311 

Remedies, definition of, 17 

division of, 17 

hygienic, 17 

imponderable, 20 

mechanical, 17 

pharmacological, 23 
Resin, 272 

cerate, 273 

of jalap, 239 

of May apple, 240 

of scammony, 241 

plaster, 273 
Resina, 272 
Rhatany, 152 
Rheum, 230 

palmatum, 230 
Rhigolene, 87 
Rhodeoretin, 239 
Rhceadinia, 46 
Rhceagenia, 46 
Rhubarb, 230 
Rhus toxicodendron, 208 
Rice, 363 
Ricinolein, 222 
Ricinus communis, 221 
Rio Negro sarsaparilla, 249 
Rochelle salt, 229 
Rosa centifolia, 159 

Gallica, 159 
Rosemary, 188 
Rose-water, 159 
Rosin, 272 
Rosmarinus, 188 

officinalis, 188 
Rottlera, 378 

tinctoria, 378 
Rubefacients, 170, 333 
Rubia, 284 

tinctorum, 284 
Rubus, 159 

Canadensis, 159 

villosus, 159 
Rue, 283 
Rufus' pills, 234 
Rum, 173 
Russian musk, 97 

rhubarb, 230 
Ruta, 283 

graveolens, 283 
Rye, 209 

Sabbatia, 105 

angularis, 105 
Sabina, 283 

Saccharated oxide of iron, 127 
Saccharum, 369 

lactis, 369 



INDEX. 



399 



Saccharum Saturni, 165 
Saffron, 370 
Sage, L88 
Sago, 362 

palm, 362 
Sagus Rumphii, 362 
Sal ammoniac, 31*7 

diureticus, 254 
Salep, 364 
Salicin, 123 

Saline cathartics, 218, 224 
Salix, 123 

alba, 123 
Salt of tartar, 326 
Saltpetre, 200 
Salvia, 188 

officinalis, 188 
Sanguinaria, 214 

Canadensis, 214 
Sanguinarina, 215 
Sanguisuga officinalis, 18 
Santalum, 371 
Santonica, 375 
Santonin, 375 
Santoninum, 375 
Sarothamnus scoparius, 264 
Sarsaparilla, 248 

false, 250 
Sarsaparillin, 249 
Sassafras, 252 

medulla, 356 

officinale, 252, 356 

pith, 356 
Savine, 283 
Scabious, 260 
Scammonium, 241 
Scammony, 241 
Scilla, 255, 269 

maritima, 255 
Scruple, 35 

Scudamore's draught, 258 
Scutellaria, 95 

laterifolia 95 
Season of gathering, influence of 

plants, 26 
Seaside grape, 151 
Secale cereale, 209 
Secalia, 209 
Sedatives, 43, 189 
Seidlitz powders, 229 
Semi-solids, 26, 33 
Senega, 265 
Senegal gum, 334 
Seneka, 265, 282 
Senna, 235 

American, 237 
Serous membranes, application 

medicines to, 41 
Serpentaria, 107 



on 



of 



Sesamum, 356 

Indicum, 356 

orientale, 356 
Setacea, 19 
Setons, 19 
Sevum, 365 
Sex, influence of, 36 
Sherry wine, 172 
Sialagogues, 288 
Signs and abbreviations, 379 
Silver, preparations of, 139 

fir, American, 270 
European, 336 
Simaruba, 102 

excelsa, 101 

officinalis, 102 
Sinapis, 217, 333 

alba, 217, 333 

nigra, 217, 333 
Sinapisin, 334 
Sinapism, 335 

Skin, application of medicines to, 37 
Skunk cabbage, 95 
Slippery elm, 355 

bark, 355 
Smelling salt, 175 
Smilacin, 249 
Smilax officinalis, 248 
Smyrna opium, 45 
Snakeroot, black, 267 

seneka, 265 

Virginia, 107 
Soap cerate, 167 

liniment, 78 

plaster, 167 
Socotrine aloes, 233 
Soda, 346 

powders, 329 

solution of, 327 
Sodfe liquor, 327 
Sodii acetas, 255 

bicarbonas, 326 

boras, 201 

carbonas, 328 

exsiccata, 328 

hypophosphis, 317 

iodidum, 305 

nitras, 201 

phosphas, 227 

praeparata, 327 

sulphas, 226 

sulphis, 144 
Sodium, acetate of, 255 

borate of, 201 

carbonate of, 328 
dried, 328 

hypophosphite of, 317 

hyposulphite of, 145 

iodide of, 305 



400 



INDEX. 



Sodium, nitrate of, 201 

phosphate of, 227 

preparations of, 327 

sulphate of, 226 

sulphite of, 144 
Soil, influence of, on plants, 26 
Solania, 72 
Solanum dulcamara, 72 

nigrum, 72 

tuberosum, 72 
Solids, 27 
Solubility, influence of, on medicines, 

26 
Soluble tartar, 229 
Solution of acetate of ammonium, 203 

arsenite of potassium, 314 

arsenite of sodium, 315 

chloride of arsenic, 315 
iron, 131 
zinc, 138 

chlorinated soda, 322 

citrate of iron, 133 
magnesium, 226 
potassium, 202 

gutta-percha, 368 

iodide of arsenic and mercury, 
315 

iodine, compound, 302 

lime, 331 

nitrate of iron, 133 

of mercury, 300, 348 

permanganate of potassium, 321 

soda, 327 

subacetate of lead, 166 

subsulphate of iron, 130 

sulphate of morphia, 53 

tersulphate of iron, 130 
Solutions, 27, 29 
Soporifics, 44 
South American kino, 151 
Spanish flies, 339 
Spastics, 205 
Spearmint, 187 

water, 187 
Spermaceti, 365 

cerate, 365 
Spiced syrup of rhubarb, 232 
Spigelia, 372 

Marilandica, 372 
'Spikenard, American, 250 
Spinants, 43, 205 
Spiraea tomentosa, 125 
Spirit of ammonia, 174 

aromatic, 174, 330 

camphor, 78 

chloroform, 86 

cinnamon, 179 

ether, compound, 99 

juniper, 262 



Spirit of juniper, compound, 262 

lavender, 187 

compound, 187 

Mindererus, 203 

nitrous ether, 203 

nutmeg, 180 

peppermint, 187 

rosemary, 188 

spearmint, 187 
Spirits, 27, 31 
Spiritus, 31 

astheris compositus. 99 
nitrosi, 203 

ammonite, 174 

aromaticus, 174, 330 

camphoroe, 78 

chloroformi, 86 

cinnamomi, 179 

frumenti, 173 

Genevse, 173' 

juniperi, 262 

compositus, 262 

lavandulse, 187 

compositus, 187 

menthse piperita, 187 
viridis, 187 

Mindereri, 203 

myrcise, 173 

myristicse, 180 

rosmarini, 188 

sacchari, 173 

vini Gallici, 173 
Spruce, hemlock, 337 

Norway, 336 
Spurge, ipecacuanha, 216 

large flowering, 216 
Squill, 255, 269 
Squirting cucumber, 243 
St. Ignatius' bean, 2o8 
Star anise, 189 
Starch, 364 
Sternutatories, 39 
Stillingia, 253 
Stimulants, 43, 170 

diffusible, 170 
Stimulating diaphoretics, 248 
Stomachics, 170 
Storax, 280 
Stramonii folia, 59 

semen, 59 
Stramonium, 59 

leaves, 59 

seed, 59 
Strychnia, 206, 207 
Strychnia? sulphas, 208 
Strychnos nux vomica, 205 

Ignatia, 208 
Styrax, 280 

benzoin, 278 



INDEX. 



401 



Subacetate of copper, 137 

lead, solution of, 166 
Subcarbonate of bismuth, 142 

iron, 128 
Sublimed sulphur, 223 
Subnitrate of bismuth, 141 
Succi, 32 
Succinic acid, 99 
Succinum, 98 
Succus conii, 68 

limonis, 204 
Sudorifics, 247 
Suet, 365 
Sugar, 369 

of lead, 165 

of milk, 369 
Sulphate of aluminium, 169 

aluminium and potassium, 168 

bebeerina, 125 

cadmium, 142 

cinchonia, 122 

copper, 136, 218, 348 

iron, 129 

dried, 129, 130 

and ammonium, 135 

magnesium, 225 

manganese, 227 

mercury, yellow, 299 

morphia, 53 

potassium, 228 

quinia, 120 

quinidia, 118 

sodium, 226 

strychnia, 208 

zinc, 137, 218 
Sulphite of ammonium, 145 

calcium, 145 

magnesium, 145 

potassium, 145 

sodium, 145 
Sulpho-carbolates, 163 
Sulpho-carbolic acid, 163 
Sulpho-sinapisin, 334 
Sulphur, 223 

lotum, 223 

prsecipitatum, 224 

sublimatum, 223 
Sulphurated antimony, 198 
Sulphuret of mercury, red, 299 
Sulphuric acid, 143 

aromatic, 144 
diluted, 144 

ether, 81 
Sulphurous acid, 144 
Suppositories, 27, 33 

of aloes, 235 

belladonna, 58 

carbolic acid, 163 

lead, 166 



Suppositories of lead and opium. 51 

morphia, 54 

opium, 51 
Suppurants, 333, 344 
Sus scrofa, 365 
Sweet flag, 184 

orange, 186 

spirit of nitre, 203 
Sydenham's laudanum, 52 
Symplocarpus fcetidus, 95 
Syrup, 32 

of almond, 75 

blackberry, 159 

citric acid, 205 

garlic, 269 

ginger, 183 

gum Arabic, 353 

iodide of iron, 132 

ipecacuanha, 214 

lactucarium, 55 

lemon, 205 

orange flowers, 187 
peel, 187 

poppies, 45 

red rose, 159 

rhatany, 152 

rhubarb, 232 

aromatic, 232 

sarsaparilla, compound, 250 

seneka, 266 

squill, 257 

compound, 257 

Tolu, 281 

wild-cherry, 125 
Syrupi, 32 
Syrups, 26, 3 2 
Syrupus, 32 

fuscus, 369 

Tabacum, 62 
Tablespoon, 36 
Tamarinds, 219 
Tannate of iron, 135 
Tannic acid, 147, 148 
Tapioca, 361 
Tar, 272 

water, 272 
Taraxacin, 262 
Taraxacum, 261 

dens-leonis, 261 
Tartar emetic, 195, 218 
Tartaric acid, 204, 205 
Tartrate of antimony and potassium, 
195 

iron and ammonium, 315 

potassium, 132 

potassium, 229 

potassium and sodium, 229 
Tea, 95 



26 



402 



INDEX. 



Teacup, 36 * 

Teaberry, 185 

Teaspoon, 36 

Temperament, influence of, 36 

Terchloride of formyl, 85 

Terebinthina, 269 

Terra Japonica, 150 

Testa praeparata, 332 

Tetrabromide of carbon, 89 

Tetrachloride of carbon, 89 

Thea, 95 

Chinensis, 95 
Thebaia, 47 
Thebolactic acid, 46 
Theina, 96 
Theobroma, 96 

cacao, 365 
Theobromia, 96 
Therapeatics, definition of, 23 
Thornapple, 59 
Thorough wort, 110 
Thyme, 188 
Thymus, 188 

vulgaris, 188 
Tinctura ferri chloridi, 131 

opii, 51 

opii acetata, 52 

camphorata, 51 
deodorata, 52 
Tincturse, 30 
Tincture of aconite root, 69 

aloes, 234 

and myrrh, 234 

American hellebore, 193 

arnica, 1 76 

assafetida, 92 

belladonna, 58 

benzoin, 279 

compound, 279 

black hellebore, 242 

blood-root, 216 

calabar bean, 79 

cantharides, 263 

capsicum, 178 

cardamom, 184 

compound, 184 

castor, 98 

catechu, 151 

chloride of iron, 131 

cinchona, 120 

compound, 120 

cinnamon, 179 

colchicum, 259 

columbo, 106 

conium, 68 

coptis, 103 

cubeb, 275 

digitalis, 192 

gentian, compound, 104 



Tincture of ginger, 183 

guaiac, 251 

ammoniated, 251 

hemp, 71 

hops, 72 

hyoscyamus, 62 

iodine, 302 

compound, 303 

jalap, 239 

kino, 152 

lobelia, 65 

lupulin, 72 

myrrh, 278 

nutgall, 150 

nux vomica, 207 

opium, 51 

acetated, 52 
camphorated, 51 
deodorized, 52 

quassia, 102 

rhatany, 152 

rhubarb, 232 

and aloes, 232 
and gentian, 232 
and senna, 232 

serpentaria, 109 

squill, 257 

stramonium, 59 

Tolu, 281 

valerian, 94 

ammoniated, 94 

yellow jasmine, 195 
Tinctures, 27, 30 
Tinnivelly senna, 236 
Tobacco, 62, 217 
Tolu, balsam of, 281 
Tonics, 43, 100 

mineral, 100, 126 

vegetable, 100, 101 
Topical medicines, 43, 332 
Tormentil, 159 
Tormentilla, 159 
Tous les mois, 361 
Toxicodendric acid, 208 
Toxicodendron, 208 
Tragacanth, 353 
Tragacantha, 353 
Tragacanthin, 354 
Tremor mercurialis, 286 
Tripoli senna, 236 
Troches, 28 

of bicarbonate of sodium, 329 

chalk, 332 

chlorate of potassium, 320 

cubeb, 275 

ginger, 183 

ipecacuanha, 214 

liquorice and opium, 50 

magnesia. 330 



INDEX. 



403 



Troches of morphia and ipecacuanha, 
53 

peppermint, 188 

santonin, 375 

subcarbonate of iron, 128 
Trochisci, 28 
Troy weight, 35 
Tulip-tree, 112 

bark, 112 
Turkey gum, 351 

opium, 45 

rhubarb, 230 
Turner's cerate, 138 
Turpentine, 269 

American, 269 

Bordeaux, 270 

Canada, 269, 270 

Chian, 270 

Venice, 270 

white, 269 
Turpeth mineral, 299 

Ulcers, application of medicines to, 

42 
Ulmus fulva, 355 
Unguenta, 33 
Unguentum, 34, 365 
acidi carbolici, 163 

tannici, 148 
antimonii, 197, 344 
belladonna?, 59 
benzoini, 279 
cantharidis, 342 
creasoti, 161 
hydrargyri, 291 

ammoniati, 299 
iodidi rubri, 298 
nitratis, 299 
oxidi flavi, 293 
rubri, 293 
iodinii, 303 

iodinii compositum, 303 
mezerei, 252 
picis liquidse, 272 
plumbi carbonatis, 168 

iodidi, 167 
potassii iodidi, 304 
stramonii, 60 
sulphuris, 223 
tabaci, 64 
veratrise, 194 
zinci oxidi, 138 
Uva ursi, 156, 255 

Valerian, 93 
Valeriana, 93 

officinalis, 93 
Valerianate of ammonium, 94 

iron, 135 



Valerianate of quinia, 121 

zinc, 139 
Valerianic acid, 93 
Vallet's ferruginous pill, 128 
Vanilla, 189 

aromatica, 189 
Vapours, 27, 34 

Veins, injection of medicines into. 42 
Vegetable acids, 204 

astringents, 147, 148 

tonics, 100, 101 
Venesection, 17 
Vera Cruz sarsaparilla, 249 
Veratria, 194 
Veratroidia, 193 
Veratrum album, 193 

sabadilla, 194 

viride, 192 
Verdigris, 137 
Vermilion, 299 
Vesicants, 333, 338 
Vesicating taffetas, 342 
Vienna paste, 346 
Vina, 31 
Vinegar, 204 

of lobelia, 66 

opium, 52 

squill, 256 
Vinegars, 27, 32 
Vinum, 72 

aloes, 235 

antimonii, 197 

colchici radicis, 259 
seminis, 259 

ergotae, 211 

ipecacuanha?, 2 14 

opii, 52 

Portense, 172 

rhei, 232 

tabaci, 64 

Xericum, 172 
Virgin scammony, 241 
Virginia snakeroot, 107 
Viridia, 193 
Voltaic electricity, 23 
Volatile alkali, 175 

liniment, 336 

oils, 177 

Warming plaster, 337 
Warner's gout cordial, 232 
Washed sulphur, 223 
Water, 350 

avens, 125 

of ammonia, 174, 343 
stronger, 174, 343 
Waters, medicated, 27, 29 
Wax, 365 
Weights and measures, 35 



404 



INDEX. 



Whisky, 173 
White arsenic, 310 
ginger, 183 
hellebore, 192 
lead, 167 

mustard, 333, 334 
oak, 153 
pepper, 178 
precipitate, 298 
vitriol, 137 
wax, 365 
Wild carrot, 262 
chamomile, 110 
cherry, 124 
valerian, 93 
Willow, 123 
Wine, 72 

of aloes, 235 
antimony, 197 
colchicum root, 259 

seed, 259 
ergot, 211 
ipecacuanha, 214 
measure, 35 
opium, 52 
rhubarb, 232 
tobacco, 64 
white hellebore, 194 
Wineglass, 36 
Wines, 27, 31 
Wine-whey, 172 
Wintergreen, 157 
Wistar's cough lozenges, 50 
Wolfsbane, 68 
Woody nightshade, 72 
Woorali, 80 
Woorara, 80 



Woorari, 80 
Wormseed, 374 
Levant 375 
Wormwood, 111 
Wort, 363 

Wounds, application of medicines to. 
42 

Xanthorriza, 107 
apiifolia, 107 

Yarrow, 114 

Yeast, 369 

Yellow bark, 114, 115 

gentian, 103 

jasmine, 195 

lady's slipper, 94 

oxide of mercury, 293 

pine, 269 

root, 107, 263 

sulphate of mercury, 299 

wash, 293 

wax, 365 
Young's scheme for doses, 36 

Zinc, preparations of, 137 
Zinci acetas, 138 

carbonas praecipitata, 138 

chloridum, 139, 347 

iodidum, 139 

oxidum, 138 

praeparata, 137 

sulphas, 137 

valerianas, 139 
Zingiber, 183 

officinale, 183 



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found in any language. Every department of medicine, whether relating to pathology, nosology, diagnosis, 
or treatment, is most elaborately and thoroughly discussed. The editor, Dr. Meredith Clymer, has contrib- 
1 uted his share to the work by many judicious additions to the original text, which makes the work particu- 
larly valuable to the American practitioner. As a whole, it now forms a complete cyclopaedia of medicine, 
and commends itself to those practitioners and students who have a desire to perfect their knowledge of our 
I art, and gain much of that information which is crowded out of the smaller text-books. 

JY. T. Medical Record. 
It must now be looked upon as the standard text-book in the English language. 

Edinburgh Medical Journal. 
All the light which recent advances have made in the method of examining, diagnosing, and treating of 
Siseases are here imparted. British and Foreign Medico- Cliiriirgical Review. 

It forms the latest and most scientific work on medicine yet published. London Medical Times and Gazette. 
It is the most comprehensive work that has ever been published on the Practice of Medicine. 

British Medical Journal. 
By the student it will be found to be the most useful and comprehensive text-book extant. 

Glasgow Medical Journal. 
The great merit of this work of Dr. Aitken's is, that it treats the various forms of disease according to 
I scientific classification. Atlienseum. 

Dr. Aitken's work at once took the first place among text-books, and will hold that position for years to 
?ome. Medical Mirror. 

Dr. Aitken's work is an admirable one for the student and busy practitioner. A more excellent one we 
really do not know. London Lancet, May 13, 1865. 

In Dr. Aitken's book, diseases are described which have hitherto found no place in any English system- 
»ti • work. Westminster Review. 



New Book on Disease 

SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. 

Atthill's Clinical Lectures on Diseases Pecul- 
iar tO Women. By Lombe Atthill, M.D., Fellow and 
Examiner in Midwifery, King and Queen's College of Physicians ; 
Obstetric Physician to the Adelaide Hospital, and formerly Assistant 
Physician to the Rotundo Lying-in Hospital. Demy Octavo, with 
Illustrations. Nearly Ready. 

" This excellent little book has three great merits. It treats of very common diseases 
which are generally very badly taught in our Schools. Secondly, it treats of them in 
a thoroughly clinical and practical way ; and finally, without being too short, is a 
compact book, calculated to be very useful to the practitioner. Dr. Atthill's practice, 
if not original, is thoroughly independent, and he illustrates it with a copious quota- 
tion of good cases. We commend the whole book to the careful attention of advanced 
students and general practitioners." — Lancet, March 23, 1872. 

" The lectures before us have the merit of calling attention to this important subject 
with the voice of personal experience. Those on Menorrhagia, endo- Metritis, and 
endo-Cervicitis, we would specially point out as worthy of note ; and, without endors- 
ing the author's therapeutic treatment of those affections, we cannot but admire the 
clearness of style and practical character of their literary treatment." — Glasgow 
Medical Journal, May, 1872. 

" These lectures form an admirable text-book for students. Dr. Atthill, as Examiner 
in the Queen's University and College of Physicians of Ireland, discovered the utter 
ignorance of the majority of students on the important subject of Diseases Peculiar to 
Women. The publication of this little volume supplies a want that has long been felt 
by students preparing for examination. In these lectures is to be found a clear and 
concise summary of the clinical practice of the diseases peculiar to women. The work 
is the result of large and accurate clinical observation, recorded in an admirably terse and 
perspicuous style, and is remarkable for the best qualities of a practical guide to the 
student and practitioner." — British Medical Journal, May 11, 1872. 

" A most excellent though brief hand-book on the Diseases Peculiar to Women ; one 
that cannot fail to be of great use to students, and that will guide them to a right 
understanding of the cases brought before them in their hospital practice. Nor is 
this all; to the busy practitioner this book will be of use in many an emergency, not 
only assisting him in the recognition of the various forms of disease most frequently 
met with, but also forming a safe and reliable guide to their treatment on sound and 
scientific principles. We think Dr. Atthill has done good service in publishing his 
lectures, and we strongly recommend them to the careful and attentive perusal of all 
who wish to study the diseases of women." — Dublin Journal of Medical Science, Novem- 
ber, 1871. 

"A very useful and judiciously written work." — British and Foreign Medico- Chirur- 
gical Review, April, 1872. 

" D.v. Atthill has done good service by giving to the world a concise, lucid, and inex- 
pensive treatise on the more commonly met with forms of Uterine disease. We cannot 
conclude without expressing our surprise and gratification that so much valuable 
information has been condensed into so small a compass." — The Medical Press and Cir- 
cular, November 15, 1871. 

" The author has compressed into a small work a large amount of information of the 
most useful kind. The lectures are strictly clinical, and the conciseness with which 
Dr. Atthill discusses his subjects will make the work a favorite with general practi- 
tioners, and this it deserves to be." — The Doctor, April 1, 1872. 

Amott On Cancer ? its Varieties, their Histology and Diagnosis. 

By Henry Arnott, F.R.C.S., Assistant Surgeon to St. Thomas' Hos- 
pital. Illustrated by Five Lithographic plates and Twenty-two Wood 
Engravings, drawn from Nature. Octavo. Price, . . $2 2. r * 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 

Allingham on Fistula, Haemorrhoids, Painful 

Ulcer, Stricture, ProlapSUS, and other Diseases of 
the Rectum, their Diagnosis and Treatment. By William Alling- 
ham, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Surgeon 
to St. Marie's Hospital for Fistula, &c. New Edition preparing. 

The Medical Press and Circular, speaking; of this book, says : " No book on this special subject that can at 
ill approach Mr. Allingham's in precision, clearness, and practical good sense " 

And The London Lancet : — " As a practical guide to the treatment of affections of the lower bowel, this 
ijouk is worthy of all commendation." 

Adams on Club-Foot. 

Its Causes, Pathology, and Treatment. Being the Jacksonian Prize 
Essay for 1864. By William Adams, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Royal 
Orthopaedic and Great Northern Hospitals. A New Edition, with 
Numerous Illustrations. In preparation. 

Adams on Rheumatic and Strumous Diseases 

Of the Joints ; including Hip- Joint Disease, and the Treatment for 
the Restoration of Motion in Cases of Stiff-Joint or Partial Anchylo- 
sis. The Lettsomian Lectures delivered before the Medical Society 
of London in 1869. In preparation. 

Acton on the Functions and Disorders of the 
Reproductive Organs, new edition. 

In Childhood, Youth, Adult Age, and Advanced Life, considered in their 
Physiological, Social, and Moral Relations. By William Acton, M.R. 
C. S., etc. Third American from the Fifth London Edition. Care- 
fully revised by the author, with additions. Jast Ready, octavo, $3.00 

To such of our readers as are not familiar with Acton's book, we may say that his plan embraces the con- 
| iteration of topics of great interest : such as are peculiar to childhood, embracing its vices ; those peculiar 
j o precocity and included in masturbation; similar inquiries pertaining to youth and adult age, and so on 
.hrough the stages of life with its inquiries. Indeed, we may say that all those delicate matters pertaining 
o the male sexual conditions are treated in this volume with singular care and intelligence. — Lancet and 
Observer, October, 1871. 

Anstie on Stimulants and Narcotics. 

Their Mutual Relations , with Special Researches on the Action of Alcohol, 
Ether, and Chloroform on the Vital Organism. By Francis E. Anstie, 
M.D., Assistant Physician to Westminster Hospital, Lecturer on Materia 
Medica and Therapeutics, etc., etc. Octavo, . . . . $3.00 

Aithaus' Medical Electricity, a New and very Much 

Enlarged Edition. 
A Theoretical and Practical Treatise, and its Use in the Treatment of 
Paralysis, Neuralgia, and other Diseases. By Julius Althaus, 
M. D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians, &c. Second 
Edition, revised, enlarged, and for the most part rewritten. In One 
Volume Octavo, with a Lithographic Plate and sixty-two Illustrations 
on Wood J Vice, ... . . $5.00 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Byford's Practice of Medicine and Surgery. 

Applied to the Diseases and Accidents Incident to Women. By W. H. 
Byford, A.M., M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women 
and Children in the Chicago Medical College, &c, &c. Second Edi- 
tion, Revised and Enlarged. Octavo. .... $5.00 

This work treats well-nigh all the diseases incident to women, diseases and accidents 
of the vulva and perineum, stone in the bladder, inflammation of the vagina, menstru- 
ation and its disorders, the uterus and its ailments, ovarian tumors, diseases of the 
mammiB, puerperal convulsions, phlegmasia alba dolens, puerperal fever, &c. Its 
scope is thus of the most extended character, yet the observations are concise, but 
convey much practical information. — London Lancet. 



B) 



ford on the Uterus, second edition, now Ready. 



On the Chronic Inflammation and Displacement of the Unimpregnated 
Uterus. A Neiv, Enlarged, and Thoroughly Revised Edition, with 
Numerous Illustrations. Octavo. ..... $3.00 

Dr. Byford writes the exact present state of medical knowledge on the subjects pre- 
sented ; and does this so clearly, so concisely, so truthfully, and so completely, that 
his book on the uterus will always meet the approval of the profession, and be every- 
where regarded as a popular standard work. — Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal, 
August, 1871. 

Black on the Functional Diseases of the Renal, 

Urinary, and Reproductive Organs, with a General View of Urinary 
Pathology. By D. Campbell Black^ M.D., L.R.C.S. Edinburgh, 
Member of the General Council of the University of Glasgow, &c, &c. 
Octavo. Price, $2.50 

Bloxam's Chemistry, Inorganic and Organic. 

With Experiments and a Comparison of Equivalent and Molecular For- 
mulas. With 276 Engravings on Wood. By C. L. Bloxam, Profes- 
sor of Chemistry in King's College, London. Second Edition, care- 
fully revised. In preparation. . . . . . $6.50 

Bloxam's Laboratory Teaching; 

Or, Progressive Exercises in Practical Chemistry. With Analytical 
Tables. Second Edition, with 89 Engravings. . . . $2.25 

Brunton's Experimental Investigation of the 
Action of Medicines. 

A Hand-book of Practical Pharmacology. By T. Lauder Brunton, 
M.D., D.Sc, Lecturer on Materia Medica at the Middlesex Hospital. 
12mo. With Wood-cuts. In preparation. 

Beeton's Book of Household Management. 

With Sanitary, Medical, and Legal Memorandums ; also, a History of 
the Properties and Uses of all Things connected with Home Life and 
Comforts. 12 Colored and 600 other Illustrations. 1100 pages. 
Demy-octavo. .......•• $3.25 

Branston's Hand-Book of Practical Receipts. 

For the Chemist, Druggist, and Medical Practitioner, comprising the 
Officinal Medicines, their Uses, and Modes of Preparation, and For- 1 
rnulse for Trade Preparations, &c; with a Glossary of Medical and , 
Chemical Terms. $1.50 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Beasl6y's 3000 Prescriptions. 

FOURTH REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION. 

Containing 3000 Prescriptions, collected from the Practice of the most 
Eminent Physicians and Surgeons — English, French, and American; 
comprising also a Compendious History of the Materia Medica, Lists of 
the Doses of all Officinal and Established Preparations, and an Index 
of Diseases and their Remedies. By Henry Beasley. Fourth Edi* 
tion, Revised and Enlarged. Price, ..... $2.50 

This edition of Dr. Beasley's Book has been carefully revised by the Author, and 
many additions made to it. The Publishers by printing it more compactly are enabled 
to present it in a more convenient form, and sell it at a much reduced price. 

" The editor, carefully selecting from the mass of materials at his disposal, has compiled a volume, in which 
both physician and druggist, prescriber and compounder, may find, under the head of each remedy, the man- 
ner in which that remedy may be most effectively administered, or combined with other medicines in the 
treatment of various diseases. The alphabetical arrangement adopted renders this easy ; and the value of the 
volume is still further enhanced by the short account given of each medicine, and the lists of doses of its 
several preparations." — Lancet. 

Beasley's Druggists' General Receipt Book. 

SEVENTH AMERICAN EDITION, REVISED AND IMPROVED. 

Comprising a copious Veterinary Formulary, numerous Receipts of Patent 
and Proprietary Medicines, Druggists' Nostrums, etc. ; Perfumery and 
Cosmetics, Beverages, Dietetic Articles and Condiments, Trade Chemicals, 
Scientific Processes, and an Appendix of Useful Tables, by Henry 
Beasley, Author of the Book of Prescriptions, etc., etc. Seventh American 
from the Last London Edition. Octavo $3.50 

"This is one of the class of books that is indispensable to every Druggist and Pharmaceutist as a book ol 
reference for such information as is wanted, not contained in works used in the regular line of his business, 
and we can recommend it as one of the best of the kind." — American Druggists' Circular. 

Beasley's Pocket Formulary. 

THE NINTH LONDON EDITION. 

A Synopsis of the British and Foreign Pharmacopoeias, comprising 
Standard and Approved Formulae for the Preparations and Com- 
pounds employed in Medical Practice. Ninth Edition, Revised and 
Enlarged. Price, $2.50 



Barth & Roger's Manual of Auscultation and 

PerCUSSlOn. A new American Translation, from the Sixth 
French Edition. 16mo $1.25 

Bouchardat's Annual Abstract 

Of Therapeutics, Materia Medica, Pharmacy, and Toxicology, fob 
1867. Translated and Edited by M. J. De Rosset, M.D., Adjunct to 
the Professor of Chemistry in the University of Maryland. $1.50 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON'S PUBLICATIONS. 



WORKS BY DR. LIONEL S. BEALE, F.R.S., 

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Physician to King's College Hospital. 



Seventh Thousand. Four Hundred Illustrations, some Colored. 
HOW TO WORK WITH THE MICROSCOPE. 

This work is a complete manual of microscopical manipulation, and contains a full 
description of many new processes of investigation, with directions for examining 
objects under the highest powers, and for taking photographs of microscopic objects. 
Octavo. Cloth. Price, $7.50. 

ON KIDNEY DISEASES, URINARY DEPOSITS, AND CALCULOUS 
DISORDERS*.— The Third Edition. 
Including the Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Urinary Diseases. With full 
Directions for the Chemical and Microscopical Analysis of the Urine in Health and 
Disease. 70 Plates, 415 figures, copied from Nature. Octavo. Price, $10.00. 

THE USE OF THE MICROSCOPE IN PRACTICAL MEDICINE. 

For Students and Practitioners, with full directions for examining the various secre- 
tions, &c. in the Microscope. 4th Edition. 500 Illustrations. Octavo. Price, 

THE MYSTERY OF LIFE. 

An Essay in reply to Dr. Gull's Theory, with two Colored Plates. Price, $1.50. 

LIFE, MATTER, AND MIND ; OR PROTOPLASM. 

With Original Observations on Minute Structure, and numerous New Colored 
Drawings. A New Edition, very much enlarged. Eight Plates. Price, $ 

DISEASE GERMS: AND ON THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES CAUSED 
BY THEM. Second Edition, much enlarged, with 28 plates, [many of them 
colored.) 

Part I. — Supposed Nature op Disease Germs. 
Part II. — Real Nature of Disease Germs. 
Part III. — The Destruction of Disease Germs. 

Demy-octavo. Price, $5.00 

PHYSICAL THEORIES OF LIFE: THEIR INFLUENCE UPON RE- 
LIGI0US THOUGHT. Price $2.50. 

With Observations on the Hypotheses recently advocated by Tyndall and Huxley. 

ON DISEASES OF THE LIVER, AND THEIR TREATMENT. 

A Second Edition, much enlarged, of the Author's Work on the Anatomy of the 
Liver. Numerous Plates. Preparing. 

THE ARCHIVES OF MEDICINE. Part XVII. now ready. Price, $1.50. 

Contents. — Medicine under the Romans — Action of Eyelids in Expiration ; F. 
C. Donders, Utrecht — Lacunae and Canaliculi — Nerves in Mesenteric Glands ; Dr. 
Popper, St. Petersburg — German Criticism and British Medical Science — Homology 
of Coracoacromial Ligament; J. B. Perrin — Sulpho-carbolates, by Dr. Sansom — 
Structure of the Liver; Editor — Sputum in Phthisis. 

DISEASE : ITS NATURE AND TREATMENT. Preparing. 

New Researches on Inflammation and Fever, and on the Nature of Contagion. 
With Observations on the Cattle Plague and on Cholera. Numerous Colored 
Plates. Being the Third Course of Lectures delivered at Oxford by direction of the 
RadelifFe Trustees. 

All these Works contain the results of the Author's original investigations. They are Illustrated 
aith upwards of 2000 Engravings, copied from the actual objects, all of which have been drawn 
#n tovrd by the Author himself, or under his immediate superintendence. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 

Biddle's Materia Medica. foukth edition. 

For the Use of Students. With Illustrations. By J. B. Biddle, M.D 

Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the Jefferson Med- 

ical College, Philadelphia, &c, &c. Revised and Enlarged. $4.00 

This is a thoroughly revised and enlarged edition of Prof. Biddle's work on Materia 

Medica. It is designed to present the leading facts and principles usually comprised 

under this head as set forth by the standard authorities, and to fill a vacuum which 

seems to exist in the want of an elementary work on the subject. The larger works 

usually recommended as text-books in our Medical schools are too voluminous for 

convenient use. This will be found to contain, in a condensed form, all that is most 

valuable, and will supply students with a reliable guide to the courses of lectures on 

Materia Medica as delivered at the various Medical schools in the United States. 

Bull on the Maternal Management of Chil- 
dren in Health and Disease. 

Birch on Constipated Bowels. 

The Various Causes and the Different Means of Cure. By S. B. Birch, 
M.D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, &c. 
Third Edition. Price, . $1.00 

Braithwaite's Epitome of the Retrospect of 
Practical Medicine and Surgery. 2 vols. $10.00 

Chambers on the Renewal of Life. 

Lectures chiefly Clinical, illustrative of a Restorative System of Medi- 
cine. By Thos. K. Chambers, M.D., Physician to St. Mary r s Hos- 
pital, author of u The Indigestions,'' 1 &c, &c. A new American from 
the Fourth London Edition. Octavo, . . . $5.00 

" This work is of the highest merit, written in a clear, masterly style, and devoid 
of technicalities. It is simply what it professes to be, Lectures Clinical, delivered 
from cases observed at the bedside; therefore more valuable as enunciating the views 
and experiences of a practical mind aided by actual observation. They are of deep 
interest, and replete with facts having a practical bearing, and will well repay 
perusal." — Canada Medical Journal. 

Chew on Medical Education. 

A Course of Lectures on the Proper Method of Studying Medicine. 
By Samuel Chew, M.D., Professor of the Practice and Principles 
of Medicine and of Clinical Medicine in the University of Maryland,. 

$1.00 
"Dr. Chew was an eminent member of the medical profession, and a well-known 
teacher of medicine. He was, therefore, well fitted for the judicious performance of 
this task, upon which he seems to have entered with interest and pleasure. It is a 
well-timed book, and will serve as a most excellent manual for the student, as well as 
a refreshing and suggestive one to the practitioner." — Lanat and Observer. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON'S PUBLICATIONS. 



Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts. 

THE FIFTH REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, 

Containing Processes, and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manu- 
factures, Professions, and Trades, including Medicine, Pharmacy, and 
Domestic Economy ; designed as a Comprehensive Summary to the 
Pharmacopoeias and a General Booh of Reference for the Manufac- 
turer, Tradesman, Amateur, and Heads of Families. By A. J. 
Cooley. Revised and partly Rewritten by Richard Y. Tuson, F.C.S., 
&c. Fifth and greatly Enlarged Edition. Over 1000 Royal-octavo 
pages, double columns. With Illustrations. Price, . . $12.00 

V/ObbOlCl Oil W OrillS. Lectures on Practical Helminthology, 
delivered at the Medical College of the Middlesex Hospital ■;, with Cases 
illustrating the Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Internal 
Parasitic Diseases. By T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D. Price, $2.00 

With the exception of hydatid formations, the author has in these lectures more or 
less fully considered all those forms of internal parasitism which ordinarily come under 
the notice of the physician. 

Coles on Deformities of the Mouth, 

Congenital and Acquired, with their Mechanical Treatment. By James 
Oakley Coles, D.D.S., Member of the Odontological Society, &c, &c. 
Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged, with 8 Colored Engravings 
and 51 Illustrations on Wood. . . . . . . $2.50 

The second edition of this work shows that the author has continued to devote him- 
self with zeal to the investigation and treatment of a very interesting class of cases. 
Mr. Coles has especially studied the congenital cleft palate, and has, with the mirror, 
detected, in several cases, growths in the naso-pharyngeal tonsil. Very beautiful 
colored drawings are given in illustration of the subject of cleft palate. Mr. Coles 
gives the preference to mechanical treatment, in both congenital and pathological per- 
forations of the palate, and his experience as to the good results obtained is certainly 
most encouraging. We recommend the work to the study of both surgeons and den- 
tists. — London Lancet. 

Coles' Manual of Dental Mechanics. 

With an Account of the Materials and Appliances Used in Mechanical 
Dentistry, and numerous Engravings on Wood. By Oakley Coles, 
Honorary Dentist to the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat. In 
preparation. 

Campbell's Manual of Scientific and Practical 

Agriculture. 12mo. With Illustrations. . . . $1.50 

Clymer's Epidemic Cerebro- Spinal Menin- 
ffltlS. With an Appendix on Some Points on the Causes of the Disease 
as shown by the History of the Present Epidemic in the City of New 
York. By Meredith Clymer, M.D. ( Univ. Penn.), Fellow of the 
College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Professor of the Diseases of 
the Nervous System, &c, &c. With a Map of the City of New York, 
showing the Localities, printed in Colors, of Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis 
in the Epidemic of 1872, made under the Direction of Moreau Morris, 
M.D., City Sanitary Inspector of the Health Department. Price. $1.00 






azeaux's Great Work on Obstetrics. 

THE MOST COMPLETE TEXT-BOOK NOW PUBLISHED. 
.REATLY ENLARGED AND IMPROVED. 
CONTAINING 175 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

k Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Midwifery, including the Disease* 
of Pregnancy and Parturition, by P. Cazeaux, Member of the Interim 
Academy of Medicine ; Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine of 
Paris, etc., etc. Revised and Annotated by S. Tarnier, Adjunct Pro- 
fessor in the Faculty of Medicine of Paris ; Former Clinical Chief of the 
Lying-in-Hospital, etc., etc. Fifth American from the Seventh French Edv 
Hon. Translated by Wm. R. Bullock, M. D. In one volume Royal Oc- 
tavo, of over 1100 pages, with numerous Lithographic and other Illustra- 
tions on Wood. 

Price, bound in Cloth, bevelled boards, . . . $6.50 
" " Leather, . 7.50 

M. Cazeaux's Great "Work on Obstetrics has become classical in its character, and 
nost an Encyclopaedia in its fulness. Written expressly for the use of students of 
idicine, and those of midwifery especially, its teachings are plain and explicit, present- 
ly a condensed summary of the leading principles established by the masters of the 
stetric art, and such clear, practical directions for the management of the pregnant, 
rturient, and puerperal states, as have been sanctioned by the most authoritative 
actitioners, and confirmed by the author's own experience. Collecting his materials 
>m the writings of the entire body of antecedent writers, carefully testing their correct- 
ss and value by his own daily experience, and rejecting all such as were falsified by 
ie numerous cases brought under his own immediate observation, he has formed out of 
em a body of doctrine, and a system of practical rules, which he illustrates and enforces 
the clearest and most simple manner possible. 

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

u It is unquestionably a work of the highest excellence, rich in information, and perhaps fuller in details 
'an any text-book with which we are acquainted. The author has not merely treated of every ques- 
j'n which relates to the business of parturition, but he has done so with judgment and ability." 
yitish and Foreign Medico- Chirurgical Review. 

I "The translation of Dr. Bullock is remarkably well done. We can recommend this work to those 
Ipecially interested in the subjects treated, and can especially recommend the American edition." 
edical Times and Gazette. 

I The edition before us is one of unquestionable excellence. Every portion of it has undergone a 
i orough revision, and no little modification ; while copious and important additions have been made to 
jarly every part of it. It is well and beautifully illustrated by numerous wood and lithographio 
| ^ravings, and, in typographical execution, will bear a favorable comparison with other works of the 

me class." — American Medical Journal. 

! I In the multitudinous collection of works devoted to the propagation of human beings, and to the 

mil" of parturition, none, in our estimation, bears any comparison to the work of Cazeaux, in its 

tire perfectness; and if we were called upon to rely alone on one work on accouchments, our choice 

iuIJ fall upon the book before us without any kind of hesitation." — West. Jour, of Med. and Surgery. 

I We do not hesitate to say, that it is now the most complete and best treatise on the subject in the 
ugiish language." — Buffalo Medical Journal. 

"We know of no work on this all-important branch of our profession that we can recommend to the 
udent or practitioner as a safe guide before this." — Chicago Medical Journal. 

I Among the many valuable treatises on the science and art of obstetrics, the work of Cazeaux stands 
^e-eminent." — St. Louis Med. and Surg. Journal. 

I M. Cazeaux's book is the most complete we have ever seen upon the subject. It is well translated, 
)d reflects great credit upon Dr*. Bullock's intelligence and industry." — N. A. Medico- Ghirurg. Review 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 

Cleaveland's Pronouncing Medical Lexicon. 

Containing the Correct Pronunciation and Definition of most of the 
Terms used by Speakers and Writers of Medicine and the Collateral 
Sciences. By C. H. Cleaveland, M.D., Member of the American 
Medical Association, &c, &c. A New and Improved Edition. $1.25 
This little work is not only a Lexicon of all the words in common use in Medicine, 
but it is also a Pronouncing Dictionary, a feature of great value to Medical Students. 
To the Dispenser it will prove an excellent aid, and also to the Pharmaceutical Student. 
It contains a List of the Abbreviations used in Prescriptions, together with their mean- 
ing ; and also of Poisons and their Antidotes. It has received strong commendation 
both from the Medical Press and from the profession. 

Cohen on Inhalation. 

Its Therapeutics and Practice. A Treatise on the Inhalation of Gases, 
Vapors, Nebulized Fluids, and Powders ; including a Description of 
the Apparatus employed, and a Record of Numerous Experiments, 
Physiological and Pathological; with Cases and Illustrations. By I. 

Solis Cohen, M.D. 12mo. Price, $2.50 

! «We recognize in this book the work of a persevering Physician who has faithfully 
studied his subject, and added to its literature much that is useful from his own expe- 
rience. Dr. Cohen has given us briefly and clearly whatever is valuable in relation to 
the insufflation of powders in respiratory affections, with the experimental proofs and 
pathological evidence of their penetration into the bronchial tubes and lung tissues." 
American Journal of Medical Science, July, 1868. 

Carson's History of the Medical Department 

Of the University of Pennsylvania, from its Foundation in It 65: with 
Sketches of Deceased Professors, &c. By Joseph Carson, M.D., 
Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy in the University. $2.00 

' The history of the University of Pennsylvania has a national as well as a local 
interest, from the early date of its origination, and the connection with it of men of 
illustrious public reputation, such as Drs. Franklin, Rush, Physick, Gibson, Dewees, 
Chapman, Wood, &c, &c. For the labor and love which he has spent in preparing 
ft is most interesting and valuable work, Prof. Carson has earned the gratitude of the 
alumni of the University, and of all others interested in medical education in this 
country." — American Journal of Medical Science. 

Dixon on the Eye. 

A Guide to the Practical Study of Diseases of the Eye, with an Outline 
of their Medical and Operative Treatment, with Test Types and Illus- 
trations. Third Edition, thoroughly Revised, and a great portion Re- 
written. By James Dixon, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Royal London 
Ophthalmic Hospital, &c, &c. In one volume. Price, . $2.50 
" Mr. Dixon's book is essentially a practical one, written by an observant author, 
woo brings to his special subject a sound knowledge of general Medicine and Sur« 
gery." — Dublin Quarterly. 



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Duchenne's Localized Electrization. 

Translated from the Third Edition, by Herbert Tibbtts, M.D., L.R. 
C.P., Lond., Medical Superintendent of the National Hospital for the 
Paralyzed and Epileptic. With 92 Illustrations, and Notes and Addi- 
tions by the Translator. Price, . . . . . $3.00 

This part of Duchenne's great work is a translation from the third edition now being 
prepared by the author, and contains all that has yet been printed, and is published 
even before the original is issued. It is not only a well-nigh exhaustive treatise on 
the medical uses of Electricity, but it is also an elaborate exposition of the different 
diseases in which Electricity has proved to be of value as a therapeutic and diagnostic 
agent. No similar treatise, it is believed, exists in the English language. 

Pakt II., illustrated by chromo-lithographs and numerous wood-cuts, is preparing. 

Dnnglison's History of Medicine, 

From the Earliest Ages to the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century. 
By Robley Dunglison, M.D., LL.D., late Professor of Institutes of 
Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence in the Jefferson Medical' Col- 
lege of Philadelphia, &c, &c. Now first Cotlected and Arranged 
from the Original Manuscript, by his son, Richard J. Dunglison, 
M.D. Subscription price, ....... $2.50 

The proposed publication of a posthumous work by this distinguished author and 
teacher must be a matter of general interest to the profession, to whose advancement 
he devoted so many years of his valuable life. No writer of this century was so pro- 
lific in contributions to medical science, and the great success of his excellent treatises 
in the various departments of medicine form a memorable chapter in the history of 
American literature. It forms a small octavo volume of 280 pages, printed on tinted 
paper, handsomely bound in cloth, bevelled boards. It will be sent by mail, postage 
paid, to subscribers who remit the amount in advance. 

Dobell on Winter Cough'- (^SSS^SSS 1 ) 

Lectures Delivered at the Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest. By 
Horace Dobell, M.D., Senior Physician to the Hospital. New and 
Enlarged Edition, with Colored Plates. Octavo. Price, . $3.50 

Darlington's Flora Cestrica; or, herborizing companion. 

Containing all the Plants of the Middle States, their Linnsean Arrange- 
ment, a Glossary of Botanical Terms, a complete Index, &c. By 
• William Darlington, M D. Third Edition. 12roo. . $2.25 

Dillnberger's Handy-Book of the Treatment 
of Women and Children's Diseases, according 

to the Vienna Medical School. 

Part I. The Diseases of Women. Part II. The Diseases of Children. 

Translated from the Second German Edition, by P. Nicol, M.D. 
One volume 12mo. Price, . . . . . . . $1.75 

"We noticed favorably the original of this hand-book some months ago, and sug- 
gested that an English translation of it, with notes showing the main points wherein 
the practice of our medical schools diifers from that at Vienna, might be well received. 
Mr. Nicol has now carried out this idea, and we imagine that many practitioners will 
be glad to possess this little manual, which gives a large mass of practical hints 
respecting the treatment of diseases which probably make up the larger half of every- 
day practice. The translation is well and correctly performed, and the necessary 
explanations of reference to German medicinal preparations are given with propei 
fullness." — The Practitioner. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Durkee on Gonorrhoea and Syphilis. 

The Fifth Edition, Revised and Enlarged, with Portraits and Colored 
Illustrations. By Silas Durkee, M.D., Fellow of the Massachusetts 
Medical Society, &c, &c. A New and Revised Edition, with Eight 
Colored Illustrations. Octavo, $5.00 

"Dr. Durkee's work impresses the reader favorably by the skill with which it 13 
arranged, the manner in which the facts are cited, the clever way in which the author's 
experience is brought in, the lucidity of the reasoning, and the care with which the 
therapeutics of venereal complaints are treated." — Lancet. 



^larn on Cerebria and other Diseases of the 

15 raill. By Charles Elam, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College 

of Physicians ; Author of "A Physician's Problems," &c, &c, &c. 
Octavo. Price, . . . $2.50 

Fuller on Rheumatism, Rheumatic Gout, and 

Sciatica. THIRD EDITION. Octavo. Price, . $5.00 

Flint's Reports on Continued Fever. 

With an Analysis of 164 cases, &c, &c. By Austin Flint, M.D., &c, &c. 
Octavo. Price, $2.00 

Fothergill. The Heart and its Diseases. 

With their Treatment. By J. Milner Fothergill, M.D., Author of 
the Hastings Prize Essay on Digitalis, its Action and its Use. With 
Illustrations. Octavo, Price, $5.00 

Fothergill on Digitalis. 

Its Mode of Action and its Use. An Inquiry illustrating the Effect of 
Remedial Agents over Diseased Conditions of the Heart, being the 
Hastings Prize Essay of the British Medical Association for 18*70. 
By J. Milner Fothergill, M.D. Price, . . . . $1 25 

Fox on the Human Teeth. 

Their Natural History, Structure, and Treatment of the Diseases to 
which they are Subject. With 250 Illustrations. . . $4.00 

Gant's Science and Practice of Surgery. 

A Complete System, including the Principles and Practice, by Freder- 
ick J. Gant, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Royal Free Hospital, London, 
&c, &c. With 4T0 Illustrations. Price, St. 50 

Mr. Gant's book, as a whole, is methodical, conscientious, learned, and painstaking. 
It is thoroughly English in tone, and somewhat hyperconservative and deferential to 
authority. It is an excellent compilation of received opinions, and a correct guide to 
established modes of practice. It is a better volume for a surgeon than for a student's 
text-book. It is a good guide to the study of surgery, and abounds in valuable facts 
and statistics. The style is generally clear and elegant. We advise surgeons who car; 
afford it to buy the book. — New York Medical Journal, Feb., 1872. 

Gant's Irritable Bladder. 

Its Causes and Curative Treatment. Third Edition, Revised and En* 
larged. With New Illustrations. 8vo. Price, . . $2.50. 



l;nlsay and blakiston's publications. 

Gioss' American Medical Biography of the 
Nineteenth Century. 

Edited by Samuel D. Gros3, M.D., Professor of Surgery in the Jefferson 
Medical College, Philadelphia, ioc, &c. With a Portrait of Benjamin 
Kush, M.D. Octavo. $3.50 

Greenhow on Bronchitis, especially as connected with 

Gout, Emphysema, and Diseases of the Heart. By E. Headlam Green 
how, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, &c, &c. 

Price, $2.00 

"In vivid pictures of the sort of cases which a practitioner encounters in his daily walks, and in examples 
of the way in which a student ought to turn them over in his mind and make them tools for self-improve. 
ment, we have rarely seen a volume richer." — Brit, and For. Medico-Okirurg. Vevs'«t*. 

Garratt's (Alfred C.) Guide for U^ing Medical 
Batteries. 

Showing the most approved Apparatus, Methods, and Pules for the Medical 
Employment of Electricity in the Treatment of Nervous Diseases, &c, &c. 
With numerous Illustrations. One Volume, octavo. . . $2.00 

" The large work on the same subject, and by the same author, is pretty well known to the Profession, bui 
it is bulky and cumbrous, and by no means so practically useful. The present comparatively brief volume 
contains every thing of importance in regard to the various apparatuses useful to the Medical Electrician 
and the various modes of application for therapeutic purposes." — Lancet and Observer. 

Godfrey's Diseases of Hair. 

A Popular Treatise upon the Affections of the Hair System, with Advice 
upon the Preservation and Management of Hair. By Benjamin 
Godfrey, M.D., F.R.A.S. Price, '.."... $1.50 

Chapter 1. Introduction. 2. Anatomy and Physiology of Hair. 3. Excess of Hair. 4. Baldness. 5. Tri- 
chionosis Cana. 6. Albinism. 7. Hair in the wrong place. 8. Vegetable Parasitic Diseases. 9. Morbus 
Paxtonii. 10. Chignon Fungus. 11. Plica Polonica. 12. Diseases of Color of the Hair. 13. Pityriasis. 14. 
Phtheiriasis. 15. Diseases of Hair Follicles. 16. Trichiasis Ciliorum. 17. Color of Hair in relation to Char- 
acter and Disease. 18. Cleanliness. 19. Hair Dyes. 20. The Beard. 

Gardner on Sterility. Its Causes and Cura- 
tive Treatment, with illustrations, octavo. . $3.00 

Holden's Manual of the Dissection of the 

Human Body. With Notes and Additions. Plustrated. $5.00 

Hillier's Clinical Treatise on the Diseases of 

Vjlllluren. By Thomas Hillier, M.D., Physician to the Hospital 
fcr Sick Children, and to University College Hospital, &c, &c. Octavo. 

Price, $3.00 

"Our space is exhausted, but we have said enough to indicate and illustrate the excellence of Dr. Hillier a 
rolume. It is eminently the kind of book needed by all medical men who w «h to cultivate clinital acrirac* 
tntf sound practice." — London Lancet. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON S PUBLICATIONS. 

Harris' Principles and Practice of Dentistry. 

The Tenth Revised Editiun. In great part Re-written, Re-arranged, 
and with many New and Important Illustrations. Including 

1. DENTAL ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 3. DENTAL SURGERY. 

2. DENTAL PATHOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS. 4. DENTAL MECHANICS. 

By Chapin A. Harris, M.D., D.D.S., &c. The Tenth Edition, Revised 
and Edited by P. H. Austen, M.D., Professor of Dental Science and 
Mechanism in the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, with nearly 
400 Illustrations, including many new ones made especially for this 

edition. Royal Octavo, in Cloth, $6.50 

" Leather, 7.50 

This new edition of Dr. Harris's work has been thoroughly revised in all its parts — more so than any pre- 
vious edition. So great have been the advances in many branches of Dentistry, that it was found necessary, 
to rewrite the articles or subjects, and this has been done in the most efficient manner by Prof. Austen, for 
many years an associate and friend of Dr. Harris, assisted by Prof. Gorgas and Thos. S. Latimer, M.D. The 
publishers feel assured that it will now be found the most complete text-book for the student and guide for 
the practitioner in the English language. 

Harris' Dictionary, the third revised edition. 

A Dictionary of Medical Terminology, Dental Surgery, and the 
Collateral Sciences. The Third Edition, carefully Revised and 
Enlarged, by Ferdinand J. S. Gorgas, M.D., D.D.S., Professor of 
Dental Surgery in the Baltimore College, &c, &c. 

Royal Octavo, in Cloth, $6.50 

Leather, T.50 

Prof. Gorgas is Dr. Harris's successor in the Baltimore Dental College, and he has in a most satisfactory 
manner revised this edition of his work, having added nearly three thousand new words, besides making 
many additions and corrections. The doses of the more prominent medicinal agents have also been added, 
and in every way the book has been greatly improved, and its value enhanced as a work of reference. 

Handy's Text-book of Anatomy, 

And Guide to Dissections. For the Use of Students of Medicine and 
Denial Surgery. With 312 Illustrations. Octavo. . . $4.00 

Hardwick's Manual of Photographic Chemis- 
try. With Engravings. Eighth Edition-. Edited and Re-arranged by 
G. Dawson, Lecturer in Photography , &c, &c. 12mo. In preparation. 

Harley's Urine and its Derangements, 

With the Application of Physiological Chemistry to the Diagnosis and 
Treatment of Constitutional as well as Local Disease. By George 
Harley, M.D., F.R.S., late Professor in the University College, Lon- 
don, &c, &c. With Illustrations. One volume. Price, . $2.75 

Contents. — Chapter 1. What is Urine? 2. Changes in the Composition of the Urine, 
induced by Food, Drink, Medicine, and Disease. 3. Urea, Ammoneemia, Uraemia. 4. 
Uric Acid. 5. Hippuric Acid, Chloride of Sodium. 6. Urohaematin, Abnormal Pig- 
ments in Urine. 7. Phosphoric Acid, Phosphatic Gravel and Calculi. 8. Oxalic Acid. 
r )xaluria, Mulberry Calculi. 9. Inosite in Urine, Creatin and Creatinine, Cholesterin, 
Cystin, Xanthin, Leucin, Tyrosin. 10. Diabetes Melitus. 11. Albuminuria. 

The subject-matter of this volume was delivered in a course of lectures before the class at the University 
College, London, and published in detached portions in the London Medical Times and Gazette, where they 
were so favorably received that the author has been induced to revise and enlarge them, presenting them in 
a far more accessible form to the Profession. Professor Harley's book now offers facilities for the study of 
Physiological and Pathological Chemistry, as applied to a class of diseases that is otherwise very imjerfectly 
provided for. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKTSTON'S PUBLICATIONS. 



Elewitt on Woman, a new, enlarged, and im- 
proved EDITION. WITH NEW ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The Diagnosis, Pathology, and Treatment of Diseases of Women, 
including the Diagnosis of Pregnancy Founded on a Course oj 
Lectures delivered at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School. By Graily 
Hewitt, M.D. Lond., M. R. C. P., Physician to the British Lying-in 
Hospital ; Lecturer on Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Chil- 
dren at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School; Honorary Secretary to 
the Obstetrical Society of London, &c. The Third Edition, Revised 
and Enlarged, with new Illustrations. Octavo. Price in Cloth, $5.00 

" " Leather, 6.00 

" Dr. Graily Hewitt has always been remarkable as one of the most careful, well- 
read, thoughtful, and conscientious Physicians in his department of practice. These 
qualities give great literary yalue to his treatises ; they are completed by the careful 
^nd intelligent application which he has made of his clinical study of a large body of 
oases, and it would be difficult to name any work equally satisfactory in its completeness 
of research, judicious discrimination of the grounds of diagnosis, and practical illus- 
tration of all that can throw light upon the treatment of the diseases of women and the 
diagnosis of pregnancy, both under ordinary and extraordinary cases. It is one of 
the books which do credit to our literature." — British Medical Journal. 

"We know of no work on the Diseases of Women which we can with greater confi- 
dence recommend. The various subjects are treated with a fulness and completeness 
which they have not heretofore received in this country, and which reminds us of the 
exhaustive methods followed in some of the best works of French and German medical 
writers." — Lancet. 

"To younger practitioners the book will be found to present a great charm in the 
calm, thorough, and impartial examinations it enters into, of the various questions that 
are still sub judice as to the pathology and treatment of some of the diseases to which 
women are subject." — Dublin Quarterly Journal. 

" We would heartily commend Dr. Hewitt's work as a sound guide, not only in 
diagnosis, but also in treatment." — Ranking and Radclifftfs Half-Yearly Abstract. 

" It is especially a safe and valuable guide to the practitioner." — British and Foreign 
Medico- Chirurgical Review. 

"Readers of the former editions will not require to be told that the additions now 
made are of the highest possible excellence." — Times and Gazette. 

"It is one of the most useful, practical, and comprehensive works upon the subject 
in the English language, a true guide to the student, and an invaluable means of 
reference for the teacher." — N. Y. Medical Record. 

"The second edition of the excellent work of Dr. Hewitt presents in a form well 
adapted to conduct the student to a knowledge of the Diseases of Women, and to assist 
the young practitioner in his study of these diseases at the bedside of the patient — a 
very full and clear exposition of the views entertained by the most authoritative teachers 
as to their pathological treatment and their correct Diagnosis. This commendation 
applies especially to the present edition. Although the first edition was a particularly 
excellent exponent of the subject, the second, besides being brought down to a later 
date, presents a fuller and more systematically arranged account of the Pathology of 
the diseases of the female in connection with their treatment." — Amer. Med. Journal. 

Haberslion on the Diseases of the Liver. 






Their Pathology and Treatment. Being the Lettsonian Lectures, deliv- 
ered at the Medical Society of London, 1872, by S. 0. Habershon, M.D., 
Physician to Guy's Hospital, dec. Price, . . . . $1.50 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON'S PUBLICATIONS. 



Headland on the Action of Medicines in the 

System. SIXTH amebican edition. 

By F. W. Headland, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. 
&c, &c. Sixth American from the Fourth London Edition. Revised 
and enlarged. One Volume, octavo $3.^0 

Dr. Headland's work has been out of print in this country nearly two years, aw$*U- 
ing the revisions of the author, which now appear in this edition. It gives the onl) 
scientific and satisfactory view of the action of medicine; and this not in the way of 
idle speculation, but by demonstration and experiments, and inferences almost as in- 
disputable as demonstrations. It is truly a great scientific work in a small compass, 
and deserves to be the handbook of every lover of the Profession. It has received the 
most unqualified approbation of the Medical Press, both in this country and in Europe, 
and is pronounced by them to be the most original and practically useful work that has 
been published for many years. 

Hille's Pocket Anatomist. 

Being a Complete Description of the Anatomy of the Human Body ; for the 
Use of Students. By M. W. Hilles, formerly Lecturer on Anatomy and 
Physiology at the Westminster Hospital School of Medicine. 

Price, in cloth, $1.00 

" in Pocket-book form, 1.25 

Heath on the Injuries and Diseases of the Jaws. 

The Jacksonian Prize Essay of the Royal College of Surgeons of Eng- 
land, 1867. By Christopher Heath, F.R. OS., Assistant Surgeon tc 
University College Hospital, and Teacher of Operative Surgery in Uni 
versify College. Containing over 150 Illustrations. Octavo. Price, $f\0f 

Hodge on Foeticide, or Criminal Abortion. 

By Hugh L. Hodge, M. D., Emeritus Professor in the University of 
Pennsylvania. A Small Pocket Volume. Price in papei" covers, 30 

" flexiuie cio^h, 50 

This little book is intended to place in the hands of professional men and others the means of answering 
satisfactorily and intelligently any inquiries that may be made of them in connect.ou wub this important 
inbject. 

Holmes' Surgical Diseases of Infancy and 

Childhood. By J. Holmes, M.A., Sutgemto the Hospital fo* 
Si?k Children, &c. Second Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Octavo. 

Price, S7.50 

Hufeland's Art of Prolonging Life. Eduedbv 

Erasmus Wilson, M.D., F R.S. Author of "A System of Human 
Anatomy, ,J " Diseases of the Skin, % &c. } dc. 12mo. Cloth. $1 25 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



■Hewson's Earth in Surgery. 

EAKTH AS A TOPICAL APPLICATION IS SUKGEKY. 

Being a full Exposition of its use in all the Cases requiring Topical Appli- 
cations admitted in the lien's and Women's Surgical Wards of the Penn- 
sylvania Hospital during a period of Six Months in 1869. With Four 
full-page Photo-Relief Illustrations. By Addinell Hewson, M.D., one 
of the Attending Surgeons to the Pennsylvania Hospital. 
"What relates to Truth is greater than what relates to Opinion." — Bacon. 

CONTENTS. 

Preface; Introduction; Histories of Cases; Comments as to the Effects of the Contact 
of the Earth; Its Effects on Pain; Its Power as a Deodorizer; Its Influence over Inflam- 
mation ; Its Influence over Putrefaction ; Its Influence over the Healing Processes ; 
Modus Operandi of the Earth ; As a Deodorizer and over Putrefaction ; In its Effects on 
Living Parts. 

In One Volume. Price, $2.50. 

This volume presents the results of researches by the author into the 
actions of Earth as a surgical dressing, and embraces the histories of over 
ninety cases which occurred in the wards of the Pennsylvania Hospital some 
three years since, but whose publication has been delayed until now, for the 
double purpose of weighing them by subsequent experience, and of inter- 
preting their meaning by a careful study of the various subjects which they 
involve. 

The illustrations are introduced for the purpose of giving a demonstration as strong 
as possible of the successes attending these experiments, and are from photographs 
reproduced by a method that would seem to leave nothing to be desired as to perma- 
nency, as well as faithfulness and accuracy of representation. 

Opinion of S. D. Gross, M.D., LL.D., Professor of Surgery in the Jefferson Medical College, 

Philadelphia. 

I have perused with great interest and profit the work of Dr. Addinell Hewson, en- 
titled "Earth &s a Topical Application in Surgery," and regard it as a highly valuable 
contribution to the literature of the profession, destined as it is from the novelty of the 
subject of which it treats to attract general attention, inquiry, and experiment. The 
author has shown himself to be an original thinker, and the treatment which he is 
laboring to introduce is worthy, as I can testify from personal observation, of a fair 
and impartial trial. 

April 6, 1872. 

Extract of a Letter from Jos. Pancoast, M.D., Professor of Anatomy in Jefferson Medical 

College, Philadelphia. 

I am glad you have brought the subject so perfectly to the notice of the profession, 
as Earth Treatment is destined hereafter to be one of the acknowledged resources of 
Surgery. 

March 2, 1872. 

The cases conclusively show that, as a rule, the contact of the earth is cooling and 
pleasant to the wound, reduces the pain, deodorizes, prevents putrefaction, and hastens 
the healing process. These results are the highest possible testimonials in its favor. 
No surgeon should neglect to read this evidence, the means being so simple and obtain- 
able. — Medical and Surgical Reporter, March 23, 1872. 

The subject is one of much practical importance, and the book will amply repay 
both physician and surgeon for the time involved in its careful reading. — Chicago 
Medical Examiner, March 1, 1872. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON'S PUBLICATIONS. 



Kirkes' Hand-Book of Physiology. 

THE SEVENTH LONDON EDITION. 

HAND-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY, by William Senhouse Kirkes, 
M.D. Seventh Edition, edited by W. Morrant Baker, F.R.C.S., Lec- 
turer on Physiology', &c, &c. With 241 Illustrations. In one volume, 
demy-octavo, containing over 800 pages. Price, bound in cloth, $5.0o! 

This edition of Dr. Kirkes' Hand-Book of Physiology is fully brought up to the times, and forms one of the 
most complete and convenient Text-Books on the subject, for the Student of Medicine, now in print. 

Lewin on Syphilis. With Illustrations. 

THE TREATMENT OF SYPHILIS with Subcutaneous Sublimate 
Injections. With a Lithographic Plate illustrating the Mode and Proper 
Place of administering the 'Injections, and of the Syringe used for the 
purpose. By Dr. Georg Lewin, Professor at the Fr. -Willi. University, 
and Surgeon-in- Chief of the Syphilitic Wards and Skin Diseases of 
the Charity Hospital, Berlin. Translated by Carl Prcegler, M.D., 
late Surgeon in the Prussian Service and in the United States Army, 
and E. H. Gale, M.D., late Surgeon in the United States Army. 

In One Volume, small Octavo. Price, . . . $2.25 

Legg on Urine, the third london edition. 

A Guide to the Examination of the Urine. For the Practitioner and 
Student. By J. Wickham Legg, M.D., Member of the Royal College 
of Physicians, &c, &c. Third Edition. 16mo. Cloth. Price, 75 cts. 

"Dr. Legg's little manual has met with remarkable success, and the speedy exhaustion of the first edition 
has enabled the author to make certain emendations which have added greatly to its value. We can now 
confidently commend it to the student as a saft3 and reliable guide to such examinations of the urine as he 
may be called upon to make." — London Medical Times and Gazette. 

Lawson's Diseases and Injuries of the Eye, 
their Medical and Surgical Treatment, wm 

Illustrations. By George Lawson, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Royal 
London Ophthalmic Hospital, and Assistant Surgeon to the Middlesex 
Hospital. In one volume, royal 12mo. Price, . . . $2.50 

This Manual comprises a brief account of all the Medical and Surgical 
Affections of the Eye, with the Treatment essential for their relief, each 
subject being discussed in a separate section under its own peculiar head- 
ing. The very favorable notices appended below attest its great value to 
the student. 

"We congratulate Mr. Lawson on the production of such an excellent work on 
ophthalmic diseases as this. Without depreciating the large and valuable treatises on 
this subject that have recently appeared, we have long felt that a manual was wanted 
which would serve as a text-book for students, and also should form a trustworthy guide 
for practitioners in dealing with diseases of the eye. Well has Mr. Lawson supplied 
this warn,. He has described the various affections of the eye, briefly but yet clearly, 
and from the large experience he has acquired as surgeon to the Royal London Oph- 
thalmic Hospital, l\Ioornelds, he has made his work thoroughly practical. The profession 
will find this manual just the sort of work they want on eye diseases, vhile to the 
student it will be invaluable as a text-book." — British Medical Journal, July 24, 1809* 






Meigs and Pepper on Children. 

FOURTH EDITION, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED. 
The publishers have selected the following notice, from a late number ot 
the London Lancet, of the New Edition of this work, as indicating, per- 
haps, more fully than any other of the numerous favorable criticisms that 
have appeared of it elsewhere, its great value to the Practitioner and 
Student of Medicine. 

•'tt is not necessary to say much, in the way of criticism, of a work so well known 
as Meigs on Diseases of Children,' especially when it has reached a fourth edition. 
Our duty is wellnigh restricted to the point of ascertaining how far, under an old 
color, it preserves the freshness and the value of a new book — how far it incorpo- 
rates what is new with what is old without unseemly marks of mere joining. There 
is some advantage in starting entirely afresh, in being merely clinical, or in being very 
short, and limiting one's self to the expression of one's own views and experience. 
But such is not the nature of this book, and the advantages of it are different. It is a 
work of more than 900 good American pages, and is more encyclopjcdial than clinical. 
But it is clinical, and withal most effectually brought up to the light, pathological and 
therapeutical, of the present day. 

"The book is like so many other good American medical books which we have lately 
Gad occasion to notice; it marvellously combines a resume of all the best European 
literature and practice with evidence throughout of good personal judgment, knowl- 
edge, and experience. It is gratifying to see how our English authors are quoted, and 
especially how the labors of Hillier, who died so prematurely, are recognized. , But 
the book abounds in exposition of American experience and observation in all that 
relates to the diseases of children. Not the least interesting additions to the volume 
are several extensive tables, exhibiting the mortality in Philadelphia of some of the 
most common and fatal diseases in connection with the variations of the temperature, 
and prepared with great care from the records of the Board of Health. 

"The thoroughly fresh nature of the book is especially seen in the care with which 
certain articles have been written. Such are those on Rickets and Tuberculosis, Infan- 
tile Atrophic Paralysis, and Progressive Paralysis. No book now on diseases of chil- 
dren is complete which does not treat specially of constitutional or diathetic diseases, 
such as rickets and tuberculosis, syphilis, &c. 

"Among other articles of great interest and value we would mention those on Dis- 
eases of the Caecum and Appendix Vermiformis, on Indigestion in Children, on Diar- 
rhoea, on Entero-Colitis, on Intussusception, on Chronic Hydrocephalus, and on Croup 
and the value of Tracheotomy. 

"The difficulties of editing a new edition of a medical book of some standing are 
not more felt in the region of pathology and the classification of disease than in that 
of therapeutics. In this work this difficulty has been fairly faced by the authors. 
They have to confess to having changed their practice very materially in the treatment 
of acute diseases, to having given up mercury in most inflammatory diseases, and almost 
given up bloodletting. We recommend the views of these authors as to the injurious 
jffects of calomel and antimony to careful consideration. They do not entirely abjure 
the use of bloodletting in certain cases of pneumonia and meningitis. Indeed, we 
think they will find reason in future editions to talk a little less freely than they do 
about bleeding and cupping very young children in certain circumstances of pneumonia, 
and in certain cases of simple meningitis. With a few exceptions of this kind, the 
therapeutics are sound and commendable, great importance being given to proper 
feeding and the general management of infancy and childhood. It is due to authors 
of so much fairness and experience to publish widely their opinion of the injurious 
and depressing effects of antimony in the inflammations of children. To infants under 
two years of age they think it best to give no antimony even in pneumonia. They do 
lot use tartar emetic at all in the cases of children, but small doses, such as the twelfth 
of a grain, of the precipitated sulphuret of antimony, every two, three, or four hours, 
watching its effects, 'and withdrawing it quickly if symptoms of prostration appear, 
perhaps without any vomiting. 

"We are glad to add this work to our library. There are few diseases of children 
which it does not treat of fully and wisely in the light of the latest physiological 
pathological, and therapeutical science." — London Lancet, July 23, 1870. 

1'vice, handsomely bound in Cloth ....... $6 00 

" " " Leather 7 00 

LINDSAY & BLAKIST0N, PUBLISHERS, 

PHIL A DELFHIA. 



ackenzie on Growths in the Larynx. 

With Numerous Colored and other Illustrations. 

Their History, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Pathology, Prognosis, 
and Treatment. With Beports and Analysis of One Hundred Con* 
secutive Gases treated by the Author; and a Tabular Statement of evert/ 
published case treated since the invention of the Laryngoscope. By 
Morell Mackenzie, M.D., Physician to the Hospital for Diseases 
of the Throat, author of " The Laryngoscope," &c. Octavo, Price $3.00 

"Dr. Mackenzie snows possession of what has been well called 'the complete professional mind.' " — The 
Lancet. 

"The most complete and original essay on new formations in the larynx." — Medical Times and Gazette. 
" A model of honest and complete work, and honorable to British medicine, as it is useful to practitioners 
of every country." — British Medical Journal. 

" This work will certainly at once take its place as the author's chief one, and on it alone he may be content 

to let his reputation rest The book is as complete as it is possible to make it." — Medical Press. 

"A storehouse of sound knowledge on the subject it treats." — Practitioner. 

" The entire profession is under a deep obligation to Dr. Mackenzie for his really interesting, instructive, 
and opportune essay." — Edinburgh Medical Journal. 

" Contains a large amount of information which is of the very greatest value." — Glasgow Med. Journal. 

" Of extreme interest and value, and reflects the greatest credit on Dr. Mackenzie." — Birmingham Med. Rev. 

"The essay can hardly fail to increase Dr. Mackenzie's already honorable position as an accomplished 
laryngologist and instructor. We trust that the work will find readers, not only among physicians espe- 
cially interested in the subject of which it treats, but among general practitioners as well. They will find it 
particularly free from the technicalities which often make works on special subjects dull reading." — Amer. 
Journal of Medical Science. 

" As a work which contains much that is new and cannot be found elsewhere, we bespeak for it a welcome 
in America. It contains the most perfect and satisfactory tabular record that any laryngoscopist has ever 
presented to the profession." — New York Medical Journal. 

" It is not in mere compliment that we say that no practitioner engaged in the surgical treatment of laryn- 
geal tumors can afford to forego the study of Dr. Mackenzie's volume." — New York Medical Record. 

"This is certainly the chef d' ceuvre of Dr. Mackenzie's productions The last and decidedly the best 

section of the book is upon treatment. It is especially commendable for the perspicuity and fairness with 
which it discusses the comparative merits of the different operations and instruments." — Phila. Med. Times. 

Mackenzie on the Laryngoscope in Diseases 

Of the Throat, with an Appendix on Rhinoscopy, and an Essay on 
Hoarseness, and Loss of Voice. With additions, by J. Solis Cohen, 
M.D., Author of " Inhalation, Its Therapeutics and Practice," &c. Il- 
lustrated by two Lithographic Plates, and 51 Engravings on Wood. 
Price, $3.00 

" The Use of the Laryngoscope in Diseases of the Throat, and Essays on Hoarseness, 
&c., are two monographs of first-rate merit. Dr. Mackenzie's Essays would do honor 
to any place ; and he has used the opportunities afforded to diligence and skill to make 
solid and enduring contributions to science and practice. Both works are, throughout, 
models of honest and complete work, and are honorable to medicine, as they are useful 
to practitioners of every country. The completeness of the clinical records, the abun- 
dant graphic illustrations, and the fulness of bibliographical references, are excellent 
features," — British Medical Journal. 

Mackenzie's Pharmacopoeia of the Hospital 

For Diseases of the Throat, containing upwards of 150 Formulce for 
Gargles, Throat Gollyria, Lozenges, Inhalations, &c, adapted for 
Throat Diseases. Based on the British Pharmacopoeia of 1867. In 
Cloth, . $1.25 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 

Meadows' Manual of Midwifery, a New Text-Book. 

Including the Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy, Obstetric Operations, 
Diseases of the Puerperal Slate, &c, &c. By Alfred Meadows, 
M.D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians, &c, So. First 
American from the Second London Edition. With numerous Illustra* 
tions. Price, $3.00 

" Those who read the first edition of this work will bear us out in thinking that Dr. Meadows's Manual 
forms one of the most convenient, practical, and concise books yet published on the subject. It was espe- 
cially good as a student's manual, and the author has, in his second edition, sought to make it of equal value 
to the practitioner. The part which treats of obstetric operations has been well revised, and has received 
numerous additions, and the several chapters on Unnatural and Complex Labors likewise comprise much 
new matter. Upwards of ninety new engravings have been inserted in this edition, and, with a view to 
facilitate reference, the author has furnished it with a very full and complete table of contents and index. 
We can cordially recommend this manual as accurate and practical, and as containing in a small compass 
a large amount of the kind of information suitable alike to the student and practitioner." — London Lancet, 
May 6, 1871. 

"This new edition of a book which was at once recognized as a good manual, is a considerable improve- 
ment -on its predecessor. It is eminently a book which will teach the student. . . . Not merely is tfye prac- 
tical treatment of Labor, and also of the Diseases and Accidents of Pregnancy, well and clearly taught, but 
the anatomical machinery of parturition is more effectively explained than in any other treatise that we 
remember; and besides this, the book is honorably distinguished among manuals of Midwifery by the ful- 
ness with which it goes into the subject of the structure and development of the ovum. Dr. Meadows has 
done good service in giving a clear account of this subject in a very short space, yet with sufficient fulness. 
On all questions of treatment, whether by medicines, by hygienic regimen, or by mechanical or operative 
appliances, this treatise is as satisfactory as a work of manual size could be ; and altogether, students and 
practitioners can hardly do better than adopt it as their vade-mecum." — The Practitioner. 

Maxson's Practice of Medicine. 

By Edwin R. Maxson, M.D., formerly Lecturer on the Practice of 
Medicine in the Geneva Medical College, &c. . . $4.00 

Morris on Scarlet Fever. 

Its Pathology and Therapeutics. By Casper Morris, M.D., Fellow of 
the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, &c. . . . $1.50 

Mendenhall's Medical Student's Yade Mecum. 

A Compendium of Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, the Practice of 
Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics, Diseases of the Skin, Materia Medica, 
Pharmacy, Poisons, &c, &c. By George Mendenhall, M.D., Pro- 
fessor of Obstetrics in the Medical College of Ohio, &c, &c. Tenth 
Edition, Revised and Enlarged, with 224 Illustrations. . $2.50 

Pennsylvania Hospital Reports. Edited by a com- 

mittee of the Hospital Staff, J. M. DaCosta, M.D., and William 
Hunt, M.D. Vols. 1 and 2, for 1868 and 1869, each volume contain- 
ing upwards of Twenty Original Articles, by former and present 
Members of the Staff, now eminent in the Profession, with Litho- 
graphic and other Illustrations. Price per volume, . . $4.00 
At last, however, the work has been commenced, the Philadelphia Physicians being 
the first to occupy this field of usefulness. The first Reports were so favorably re- 
ceived, on both sides of the Atlantic, that it is hardly necessary to speak for them the 
universal welcome of which they are deserving. The papers are all valuable contri 
butions to the literature of medicine, reflecting great credit upon their authors. The 
work is one of which the Pennsylvania Hospital may well be proud. It will do much 
ic war J elevating the profession of this country. — American Journal of Obstetrics. 



Marshall's Physiological Diagrams. 

LIFE-SIZE, AND BEAUTIFULLY COLORED. 

On account of their large size and the great distinctness of the figures on them, there 
has been a growing demand in this country for these Maps for the Lecture Room and 
for lecturing from in Medical as well as other Schools. In order to supply this 
demand on more favorable terms, we have recently completed an arrangement with the 
publishers in London, by which we can sell them to the trade and others at a reduced 
price and on better terms than heretofore. 

The series, illustrating the whole Human Body, are life-size, each map printed on a 
single sheet of paper, made specially for the purpose, 7 feet long and 3 feet 9 indies broad., 
colored in fac-simile of the Original Drawings. There are nine diagrams, as follows - 



No. 5. The Lymphatics or Absorbents. 
No. 6. The Digestive Organs. 
No. 7. The Brain and Nerves. 
No. 8. The Organs of Sense and Voice. 
No. 9. The Textures. — Microscopic Struc- 
tures. 



No. 1. The Skeleton and Ligaments. 

No. 2. The Muscles and Joints, with Ani- 
mal Mechanics. 

No. 3. The Viscera in Position. — The 
Structure of the Lungs. 

No. 4. The Heart and principal Blood- 
vessels. 

Prepared under the direction of John Marshall, F.R.S., F.R.C.S., Pro- 
fessor of Surgery, University College, and Surgeon to University College 
Hospital. 
Price of the Set, Nine Maps, in Sheets, .... $50.00 

" " " " handsomely Mounted on 

Canvas, with Rollers, and Varnished, . . . . .$80.00 

Though designed more especially for purposes of general education, supplying an 
acknowledged necessity of modern teaching, these diagrams will be found not inappli- 
cable to the requirements of professed Medical Schools, affording, as they do, a correct 
preliminary view of the various systems and organs in the human body. For Public 
School Purposes, for Lectures at Literary, Scientific, and other Institutes, they will 
be found invaluable ; and also to students of Artistic Anatomy, imparting, as they do, 
when suspended on the walls of the Lecture-hall, School-room, or Studio, a familiar 
acquaintance with the whole human system. 

An Explanatory Key to the Physiological 

Diagrams. By John Marshall, F.R.S., F.R.C.S., &c. Octavo. 
Paper covers. ......... 50 cts. 

Description of the Human Body. 

Its Structure and Functions. Illustrated by Physiological Diagrams, 

Designed for the Use of Teachers in Schools and Young Men destined 

for the Medical Profession, and for popular Instruction generally. New 

Edition. By John Marshall, F.R.S., F.R.C.S., Professor of Surgery, 

University College, and Surgeon to the University College Hospital. 

The work contains 260 quarto pages of Text, bound in cloth, and 193 Colored 
Illustrations, arranged in Nine Folio Diagrams, carefully colored and 
reduced from Prof. Marshall's large work. 2 vols. Cloth. . $10.00 

Murphy's Review of Chemistry for Students. 

Adapted to the Courses as Taught in the Principal Medical Schools in 
the United States. By John Gr. Murphy, M.D. . . . SI. 25 



LINDSAY AND BLAKTSTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Martin's Manual of Microscopic Mounting. 

With Illustrations on Stone and Wood. 8vo. Preparing. 

Macnamara's Manual of the Diseases of the 

JuVe. With Colored Plates. Second Edition, carefully Revised, 
with Additions, &c, &c. Octavo. Preparing. 

, Morfit's Chemical and Pharmaceutical Man- 
ipulations. A Manual of the Chemical and Chemico- Mechani- 
cal Operations of the Laboratory. By Campbell Morfit, Professor 
of Analytic and Applied Chemistry in the University of Maryland. 
New Edition, with over 500 Illustrations. Preparing. 

iller on Alcohol, and Lizars on Tobacco. 

Alcohol: Its Place and Power. By James Miller, F.R S.E., Professor 
of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, President of the Medico- 
Chirurgical Society, Author of Miller's Principles and Practice of 
Surgery, &c, So. — The Use and Abuse of Tobacco. By John Lizars, 
late Professor of Surgery to the Royal College of Surgeons, &c, &c. 
The Two Essays in One Volume. 12mo. .... $1.00 

Ott on Soaps and Candles. 

Including the Most Recent Discoveries in the Manufacture of all kinds 
of Ordinary Hard, Soft, and Toilet Soaps, and of Tallow and Com- 
posite Candles. By Adolph Ott, Practical and Analytical Chemist. 
12mo. With Illustrations. . . . . . . • . $2.50 

Overman's Practical Mineralogy, Assaying 

and JilininGT* With a Description of the Useful Minerals, and 
Instructions for Assaying, according to the Simplest Methods. By 
Frederick Overman, Mining Engineer, &c. 12mo. . $1.25* 

Piesse's Whole Art of Perfumery. 

And the Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants; the Manufacture if 
Perfumes for the Handkerchief, Scented Powders, Odorous Vinegars, 
Dentifrices, Pomatums, Cosmetics, Perfumed Soaps, &c; the Prepa- 
ration of Artificial Fruit Essences, &c. By G. W. Septimus Piesse,. 
Analytical Chemist. Second American, from the Third London 
Edition. 12mo. With Illustrations. ..... $3.00 : 

Piggott on Copper Mining and Copper Ore. 

Containing a full Description of some of the Principal Copper Mines< 
of the United States, the Art of Mining, the Mode of Preparing the 
Ore for Market, &c, &c. By A. Snowden Piggott, M.D., Practical 
Chemist. 12mo $1.50' 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Pereira's Physician's Prescription Book. 

Containing Lists of Terms, Phrases, Contractions, and Abbreviations, used 
in Prescriptions, with Explanatory Notes, the Grammatical Constructions 
of Prescriptions, Rules for the Pronunciation of Pharmaceutical Terms, 
A Prosodiacal Vocabulary of the Names of Drugs, etc., and a scries of 
Abbreviated Prescriptions illustrating the use of the preceding terms, etc. ; 
to which is added a Key, containing the Prescriptions in an unabbreviated 
Form, with a Literal Translation, intended for the use of Medical and 
Pharmaceutical Students. By Jonathan Pereira, M.D., F.R.S., etc. 
From the Fifteenth London Edition. 

Price, in cloth, $1.25 

" in leather, with Tucks and Pocket, . . . 1.50 

This lil 4 le work has passed through fifteen editions in London and several in this 
country. The present edition of which this is a reprint has been carefully revised 
and many additions made to it. Its great value is proven both by its large sale and 
the many favorable notices of it in the Medical Press. 

Paget's Surgical Pathology. Third London Edition. 

Lectures delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, by James 
Paget, F.R.S., Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, &c, &c. Third 
London Edition, edited and Revised by William Turner, M.D., Lond. 
Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, &c. One volume, 
Octavo, with numerous Illustrations. Price, .... $1.50 

A new and revised edition of Mr. Paget's Classical Lectures on Surgical Pathology 
needs no introduction to our readers. Commendation of it would be as superfluous as 
criticism would be out of place. Suffice it to say that almost every page bears evidence 
that the present edition has been, as the author mentions in his preface, " carefully re- 
vised," from a clinical point of view by himself, and from the pathological by his only 
less distinguished editor, Professor Turner. The latest observations of pathologists in 
all parts of the world have received due attention, and, as a consequence, the lectures ^ 
in their present shape are not only, as Mr. Paget modestly hopes they may be con- 
sidered, "better than they were," but probably the very best to which the student of 
pathology can resort. — American Medical Journal. 

Prince's Plastic and Orthopedic Surgery. 

Containing, 

1. A Report on the Condition of, and Advances made in, Plastic and 

Orthopedic Surgery up to the Year 1871. 

2. A New Classification and Brief Exposition of Plastic Surgery. 

With numerous Illustrations. 

3. Orthopedics: A Systematic Work upon the Prevention and Cure 

of Deformities. With numerous Illustrations. 
In one volume, Octavo. Price, ...... $4.50 

*'This is a good book, upon an important practical subject; carefully written, 
abundantly illustrated, and well printed. It goes over the whole ground of deformi- 
ties of all degrees — from cleft-palate and club-foot, to spinal curvatures and ununited 
fractures. It appears, moreover, to be an original book, so far as one chiefly of com- 
pilation can be so. Such a book was wanted, and it deserves success." — Mtd. and 
Surg. Repoi Vr. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Rindfleisch's Text-Book of Pathological 

Histology. 208 Illustrations. 

An Introduction to the Study of Pathological Anatomy. By Dr. Edward 
Rindfleisch, 0. 0. Professor of Pathological Anatomy in Bonn. 
Translated from the Second German Edition, by Wm. C. Kloman, 
M.D., assisted by F. T. Miles, M.D., Professor of Anatomy, Univer- 
sity of Maryland, &c, &c. Containing 208 Elaborately Executed 
Microscopical Illustrations. Octavo. Price, bound in Cloth, $6.00 

Leather, 7.00 

For the first time since microscopical anatomy has become the basis of a true pathol- 
ogy, American students, and. indeed we may say English students, have access to a 
suitable text-book in their own language. Heretofore the opportunity of studying 
pathology has been limited to a comparative few who were familiar with the German 
and French. But in the translation of Rindfleisch, we have furnished us not merely 
an excellent guide, but actually the best which could be made available, either to 
practitioner or student. It would be impossible, and it is indeed needless, to present 
a resume of its contents. The volume is a faithful exposition of the present state of 
pathological histology; each subject is fully and systematically treated, and may, 
therefore, be studied independently of any relation to others. The work of the trans- 
lators has been well done, and although a few idiomatic sentences have crept into the 
text which are not very intelligible, they scarcely impair the value of the work. No 
physician or student should be without it. — Philadelphia Medical Times, Feb. 1, 1872. 

Richardson's Practical Treatise on Mechani- 
cal -Dentistry, second edition, much enlarged. 

By Joseph Richardson, D.D.S., Professor of Mechanical Dentistry in 
the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, &c. With over 150 beautifully 
executed Illustrations. Octavo. Leather. . . . $4.50 

This work does infinite credit to its author. Its comprehensive style has in no way 
interfered with most elaborate details where this is necessary; and the numerous and 
beautifully executed wood-cuts with which it is illustrated render this volume as at- 
tractive as its instructions are easily understood. — Edinburgh Med. Journal. 

The scope of the whole work is thoroughly carried out, and to any one desiring a 
theoretical knowledge of Dental Mechanics, Dr. Richardson's book will be found a most 
efficient guide. — British and Foreign Medico- Chirurg. Review. 

Reynolds' Lectures on the Clinical Uses of 

Electricity, Delivered at the University College Hospital. By J. Russell 
Reynolds, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of the Principles and Practice 
of Medicine, University College, London, editor of "A System of 
Medicine, v &c, &c. Post octavo. Price, .... $1.50 

This handy little book conveys a great deal of information in small bulk and in clear 
readable English. It is so terse and compressed, that any quotations from the context 
eould only feebly convey the-highly practical and generally useful nature of the in- 
struction it contains. — Edinburgh Medical Journal, January, 1872. 

Reese's Analogy of Physiology. Price, . $1.50 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Radcliffe's Lectures on Epilepsy, Pain, Pa- 
ralysis, 

And certain other Disorders of the Nervous System. By Charles 
Bland Radcliffe, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians 
of London, &c. y &c. With Illustrations $2.00 

Rigby's Obstetric Memoranda, fourth edition. 

Edited by Alfred Meadows, M.D., Author of "A Manual of Mid- 
wifery, 1 ' &c, &c. Price, 50 c ts. 

Robertson's Manual on Extracting Teeth. 

Founded on the Anatomy of the Parts involved in the Operation; the 
Kinds and Proper Construction of the Instruments to be used; the 
Accidents liable to occur from the Operation, and the Proper Reme- 
dies. By Abraham Robertson, D.D.S., M.D. Second Edition, 
Revised and Improved. With Illustrations. . . $1.50 

Rihl & O'Conner's Physician's Diary, 

Monthly, Semi- Annual, and Annual Journal and Cash-Book Combined 
The Fourth Revised Edition. A large folio volume, with printed 
Heads, Index, &c, &c. Bound in full leather. Price, . . $?.50 

Renouard's History of Medicine. 

From its Origin to the Nineteenth Century. By P. V. Renouard, M.D. 
Translated from the French by C. Gr. Comegys, M.D., Professor of 
the Institutes of Medicine, &c. Octavo. Price, . . . $4.00 

Reports on the Progress of Medicine and 

Surgery, Physiology, Ophthalmic Medicine, Midwifery, Diseases of 
Women and Children, Materia Medica, &c. Edited by Drs. Power, 
Holmes, Ainstie, and Barnes, for the Sydenham Society of London 
Octavo. Price, $2.00 

Ross. The Graft Theory of Disease. 

Being an Application of Mr. Darwin's Hypothesis of Pangenesis to the 
Explanation of the Phenomena of the Zymotic Diseases. By James 
Ross, M.D. Demy Octavo. Price, $4.00 

Ryan's Philosophy of Marriage. 

In its Social, Moral, and Physical Relations ; with an Account of the Dis- 
eases of the Genito- Urinary Organs, &c. By Michael Ryan, M.D., 
Member of the Royal College of Physicians. 12mo. . . $1.00 

Reese's American Medical Formulary. $1.50 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Sanderson and Foster's Handbook for the 

IjabOratOry. Being Practical Exercises for Students in Phy- 
siology and Histology. Edited by Professors Burdon-Sandeeson and 
Michael Foster, with the co-operation of Dr. Brunton (for Physi- 
ology) and Dr. E. Klein, of Vienna, (for Histology.) In one volume, 
octavo, with numerous Illustrations from Original Drawings. Pre- 
paring. 

Stille's Epidemic Meningitis; 

O? , Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. By Alfred Stille, M.D., Professor of 
the Theory and Practice of Medicine in the University of Pennsylva- 
nia, &c, &c. In one volume, Octavo, .... $2.00 
" This monograph is a timely publication, comprehensive in its scope, and present- 
ing within a small compass a fair digest of our existing knowledge of the disease, par- 
ticularly acceptable at the present time. It is just such a one as is needed, and may 

be taken as a model for similar works." — Am. Journal Med. Sciences. 

> 

Stille's Elements of General Pathology. 

A Practical Treatise on the Causes, Forms, Symptoms, and Eesults of 
Disease. Second Edition preparing. 

Sweringen's Pharmaceutical Dictionary. 

A Lexicon of Pharmaceutical Science. In preparation. 

Schultze's Lecture Diagrams for Instruction 
in Pregnancy and Midwifery. 20 piates of the 

largest Imperial size, printed in colors. Drawn and Edited with 
Explanatory Notes by Dr. B. S. Schultze, Professor of Midwifery 
at the University of Jena. With \.to volume of letter-press. $15.00 

Sansom on Chloroform. 

Its Action and Administration. By Arthur Ernest Sansom, M.B., 
Physician to King's College Hospital, &c, &c. 12mo. . $2.00 

" The work of Dr. Sansom may be characterized as most excellent. Written not 
alone from a theoretical point of view, but showing very considerable experimental 
study, and an intimate clinical acquaintance with the administration of these remedies, 
— passing concisely over the whole ground, giving the latest information upon every 
point, — it is just the work for the student and practitioner." — Amer. Medical Journal. 



Scanzoni on Women. 

A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of the Sexual Organs of Women. 
Translated from the French. By A. K. Gardner, A.M., M.D., &c. 
With Illustrations. Octavo, $5.00 

Stokes on the Diseases of the Heart 

And the Aorta. By William Stokes, Regius Professor of Physic in 
the University of Dublin ; Author of the Diseases of the Chest, &c, 
&c. Seco id American Edition. Octavo, . . . . $3.00 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON J S PUBLICATIONS. 



THOMAS HAWKES TANNER'S WORKS. 
" The leading feature of Dr. Tanner's books is their essentially practical character." 

London Lancet. 

Tanner's Practice of Medicine. 

FIFTH AMERICAN, FROM THE SIXTH LONDON EDITION. 

Revised, much Enlarged, and thoroughly Drought up to the present time. 
With a complete Section on the Diseases Peculiar to Women, an exten- 
sive Appendix of Formulae for Medicines, Baths, &c, &c. By Thomas 
Hawkes Tanner, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 
&c. Royal Octavo, over 1100 pages. Price, bound in Cloth, $6.00 

Leather, 7-00 

There is a common character about the writings of Dr. Tanner — a character which constitutes one of their 
chief values: they are all essentially and thoroughly practical. Dr. Tanner never, for one moment, allows 
this utilitarian end to escape his mental view. He aims at teaching how to recognize and how to cure dis- 
ease, and in this he is thoroughly successful. ... It is, indeed, a wonderful mine of knowledge. — Medical 
Times. 

Tanner's Practical Treatise on the Diseases 
of Infancy and Childhood, price, $3.50. 

THIRD AMERICAN EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. 

By Alfred Meadows, M.D., London, M.R.C.P., Physician to the Hos- 
pital for Women and to the General Lying-in Hospital, &c, &c. 

This book of Dr. Tanner's has been much enlarged and the plan altered by Dr. Meadows. As it now stands 
it is probably one of the most complete in our language. It no longer deals with children's diseases only„ 
but includes the peculiar conditions of childhood, both normal and abnormal, as well as the therapeutics 
specially applicable to that class of patients. Tbe articles on Skin Diseases have been revised by Dr. Tilbury 
Fox, and those on Diseases of the Eye by Dr. Brudenell Carter, both gentlemen distinguished in these spe- 
cialties. — Medical Times and Gazette. 

Tanner's Index of Diseases and their 

-LrOatnient. With upwards o/500 Formulas for Medicines, 
Baths, Mineral Waters, Climates for Invalids, &c, &c. Octavo, $3.00 

To the busy practitioner it must be an advantage to see at a glance, on a quarter or half a page, the prin- 
cipal point in any disease about which he may wish to have his memory refreshed or his mind stimulated. 
It will be found a most valuable companion to the judicious practitioner. — The Lancet. 

Tanner's Memoranda of Poisons. 

A New and much Enlarged Edition. Price, . . . *75 cts. 

This manual is intended to assist the practitioner in the diagnosis and treatment of poisoning, and especially 
to prevent his attributing to natural disease symptoms due to the administration of deadly drugs. 



Taft's Practical Treatise on Operative Den- 
tistry. A NEW EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED. 

By Jonathan Taft, D.D.S., Professor of Operative Dentistry in the 
Ohio College of Dental Surgery, &c. Second Edition, thoroughly Re- 
vised, with additions, and fully brought up to the present state of the 
Science. Containing over 100 Illustrations. Octavo. Leather, $4.50 

Professor Taft has done good service in thus embodying, in a separate volume, a comprehensive view of 
Operative Dentistry. This gentleman's position as a teacher must have rendered him familiar with the most 
recent views which are entertained in America on this matter, while his extensive experience and well-earned 
reputation in practice must have rendered him a competent judge of their merits. We willingly commend 
Pref. Taft's able and useful work to the profession. — London Dental Review. 



LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON's PUBLICATIONS. 



Tilt's Change of Life 

In Health and Disease. A Practical Treatise on the Nervous and 
other Affections incidental to Women at the Decline of Life. By 
Edward John Tilt, M.D. From the Third London Edition. In 
one volume. Octavo, . . . . . . . . $3.00 

The work is rich in personal experience and observation, as well as in ready and 

sensible reflection on the experience and observation of others. The book is one that 

no practitioner should be without, as the best we have on a class of diseases that makes 

I a constant demand upon our care, and requires very judicious management on the part 

of the practitioner. — London Lancet. 

Tuke. Illustrations of the Influence of the 

Mind Upon the Body. By Daniel S. Tuke, M.D., Asso- 
ciate Author of "A Manual of Psychological Medicine, 1 '' &c. Octavo. 
Price, ' . . $ 

Tyler Smith's Obstetrics. 

A Course of Lectures. By W. Tyler Smith, M.D., Physician, Ac- 
coucheur, and Lecturer on Midwifery, &c. Edited by A. K. Gard- 
ner, M.D. With Illustrations. Octavo, .... $5.00 

Toynbee on Diseases of the Ear. 

Their Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment. A new London Edition, with 
a Supplement. By James Hinton, Aural Surgeon to Guy's Hospi- 
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Thompson's Clinical Lectures on Pulmonary 
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42. Biennial Retrospect of Medicine and Sur- 

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43. Lancereaux on Syphilis. Translated by Dr 

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44. A Ninth Fasciculus of the Atlas of Por 

traits of Skin Diseases 

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Wunderlich on Temperature in Disease. 
Trousseau's Clinical Medicine. Vol. IV. 
A Biennial Retrospect of Medicine and Sur- 
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Lindsay & Blakiston's Physician's Visiting List. 

And in all cases, whether ordering from the Publishers or otherwise, 

specify the size, style, &c, wanted. 

It is, heyond all doubt, the most complete and yet the simplest "Visiting List which 
is published. In our opinion, it is invaluable to the practitioner in busy practice, and, 
besides saving him a great deal of trouble, will prevent his losing a considerable sum 
of money during the year, by neglecting, through forgetfulness, to enter visits made. 
Those who have made use of this Visiting List would not be without it for thrice its 
price. We therefore know we are doing our readers a good turn when we strongly 
recommend it to their attention. — Canada Medical Journal, December, 1871. 



Medical Text-Books, 



PUBLISHED BY 

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, Philadelphia. 



MTKEN'S Science and Practice Of Medicine. The Third American Edition, with Additions 
by the American Editor, reprinted from the Sixth London Edition. Revised, remodelled, and much 
of it rewritten by the Author, and with many New Illustrations. 2 Volumes, Royal Octavo. 

SANDERSOX «fc FOSTER'S Handbook for the Laboratory. Being Practical Exercises 
for Students in Physiology and Histology. Preparing. 

CAZEAEX'S Text-Book, of Obstetrics. — Fifth American Edition. Illustrated. 

WARIXG'S Practical Therapeutics. — Erom the Third London Edition. 

RINDEEEISl'H'S Text-Book of Pathological Histology. — Containing 208 Elaborately 

Executed Microscopical Illustrations. 
TAXXER'S Practice of Medicine.— Fifth American from the Sixth London Edition. 
MEIGS & PEPPER'S Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Children.— Fourth Ed. 
TANNER <fc MEADOW'S Diseases of Infancy and Childhood.-Third American Ed. 
BIDDEE'S Materia Medica, for Students. Fourth Edition. With Illustrations. 
GAXT'S Science and Practice of Surgery.— 470 illustrations. 

HARRIS'S Principles and Practice of Dentistry The Tenth Revised Edition 

PAGET'S Surgical Pathology.— By Turner. Third London Edition 

SOEEBERG WEEES on Diseases of the Eye.— Second London Edition. 

BTFORD'S Practice of Medicine and Surgery, applied to the Diseases of 

Women.— Second Edition. Illustrated. 
HEWITT'S Diagnosis and Treatment of the Diseases of Women.-Third Edition. 
HEADIiAXD on the Action Of Medicines.— Sixth American Edition. 
BEAEE'S How to Work with the Microscope. — Fourth Edition. 
HARLET on the Urine and its Derangements. With Illustrations. 

MANUALS FOR STUDENTS. , 

MEADOW'S Manual of Midwifery.— Second Edition Illustrated. 

ATTHIEE'S Manual of the Diseases of Women.— With Illustrations. 

LAWSOX'S Diseases and Injuries of the Eye, their Medical and Surgical Treatment, 

CHEW'S Eectures on Medical Education. 

MEXDEXHALL'S Medical Student's Vade Mecum.— The Tenth Edition. 224 rirustrationfc 

ROBERTSON'S Manual for Extracting Teeth.— Second Edition. Eevised. 

DIXON'S Practical Study of the Diseases of the Eye.— Third Edition. 

PEREIRA'S Physician's Prescription Book.— The Fifteenth Eevised Edition. 

REESE'S Analysis of Physiology.— Second Edition. 

WITHES' Pocket Dose and Symptom Book.— Tenth Edition, with Additions. 

BARTH «& ROGER'S Manual of Auscultation and Percussion.— Sixth Edition. 

CLEAVELAXD'S Pronouncing Medical Eexicon.— Thirteenth Edition. 

LEGG'S Guide to the Examination of the Urine.— Third London Edition. 

HIEE's Pocket Anatomist, for the use of Students. 

TANNER'S Memoranda of Poisons. — From the Third London Edition. 

RIGBY'S Obstetric Memoranda. Fourth Edition. 

A complete Descriptive Catalogue of their Publications, together 
with a classified and priced list of all recent Medical Books, American 
and English, furnished or mailed free on application. 






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